Vol. 396 No. 3
177 Mr. J. Mitchell asked the Minister for the Environment if he will give details of any grants or loans that are available to persons living in homes without bathrooms to supply such bathrooms; if he will improve the grant scheme; the estimated number of homes in the County Borough of Dublin and the County of Dublin without bathrooms; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
There are no house improvement grants available to persons generally for the provision of bathrooms. However, under the disabled persons grants scheme operated by the local authorities a grant of up to two-thirds of the cost in the case of private houses, or the full cost in the case of local authority houses, is available for the provision of bathroom facilities for disabled persons. Up to 50 per cent of the grant paid or £2,500 whichever is the lesser, is available to the local authorities by way of recoupment from my Department. I have no proposals at present to amend this scheme. Funding may also be made available to local authorities under the terms of the Department's remedial work scheme to assist them in providing bathroom facilities in their rented housing stock.
A person whose annual income in the previous tax year is less than £10,000 may obtain an improvement loan from a local authority which may be used for the provision of bathroom or shower facilities. The loan may be up to £8,000 — £2,000 of it is not secured — and may be repaid over 15 years.
Data from the 1981 census, the latest available, showed that in the County Borough of Dublin and the County of Dublin (including Dún Laoghaire) the number of houses without bathrooms was 12,302 and 4,351 respectively.
