Vol. 420 No. 6
147 Mr. Finucane asked the Minister for Health the number of applications, under the special housing aid for the elderly scheme, which the Mid-Western Health Board will be able to process this year; the total number of applications received; and the expected total shortfall under the scheme.
The special Housing Aid Scheme for the Elderly was established in 1982 to carry out repairs to houses of elderly people in unfit and insanitary conditions. Health boards have established ad hoc committees to run the scheme, comprising representatives of the boards, the local authorities, voluntary bodies and FÁS, where they are involved in carrying out work under the scheme. The scheme is overseen at national level by a Task Force on which the Departments of the Environment and Health, the local authorities and voluntary bodies are represented. Since it was established, expenditure on the scheme has been over £8 million and 10,000 elderly households have been assisted under the scheme to carry out work.
The Mid-Western Health Board have informed me that at 1 December 1991, 209 applications for aid under the scheme had been approved. On the trend of previous years, it would be expected that about half of these applications will be dealt with this year. The Health Board inform me that every effort will be made to maintain the scheme at the highest level possible.
