Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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383. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if will urgently sanction additional funding to Sligo County Council to enable the reopening of the housing adaptation grant scheme to Priority 2 and 3 applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40849/26]

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 detailed administration of the scheme including assessment, approval, prioritisation and apportionment is the responsibility of local authorities.

The Exchequer funding available for these grants in 2026 increased substantially by €30 million to €129.5 million, or over €152 million when accounting for the local authority contribution, continuing the year on year increases since 2014.

My Department is aware that some local authorities have paused the acceptance of priority 2 and priority 3 applications but are continuing to consider priority 1 applications. Priority 1 is defined as individuals who are terminally ill, primarily dependent on family or a carer, or where adaptations to the home would support applicants leaving hospital or residential care.

During 2025, my Department approved two separate requests for additional funding overall totalling €453,670 from Sligo County Council and over €2.14 million was drawn down by the Council in 2025. Sligo County Council received an allocation of over €2.3 million in Exchequer funding for 2026 an increase of 30% on the original allocation in 2025. Sligo County Council submitted a request for additional funding to my Department and it is under review.

My Department works closely with the local authorities to monitor spend and to achieve a full drawdown of available funding. This means that any underspends that arise on the part of any local authority can be redistributed to other authorities which have high levels of grant activity and my Department makes every effort to redistribute such funding throughout the year. My Department is actively engaging with local authorities to facilitate redistribution of any such savings as early as possible this year.