Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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304. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government in relation to the means test for the housing adaptation grant, whether the means test applies to the legal owners or the residents in the case where parents reside in a family home but the ownership has been transferred to the children leaving the parents with a legal right to reside in the home for the remainder of their lives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23199/26]

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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My Department provides funding under the suite of Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and Disabled People, to assist those in private houses to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs. The suite of grants, which include the Housing Adaptation Grant for Disabled People, the Mobility Aids Grant and the Housing Aid for Older People Grant, are funded by my Department with a contribution from the local authority.

The Housing (Adaptation Grants for Older People and Disabled People) Regulations 2024 (S.I. No. 612 of 2024), which came into effect on 1 December 2024, provide the legal basis for the scheme as administered by all local authorities. My Department issues guidelines to local authorities to ensure the consistent operation of the scheme nationwide. The detailed administration of the scheme including assessment, approval, prioritisation and apportionment is the responsibility of local authorities.

The schemes continue to be means tested, assessing the income of the registered owner(s), and, if applicable, their spouse, of a property which is the subject of an application.