Vol. 457 No. 7
19 Mr. Molloy asked the Minister for the Environment the steps, if any, he will take to ensure that the essential repairs scheme is applicable in all local authority areas and not confined to rural areas only as is the position in County Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15873/95]
The essential repairs grants scheme is administered by local authorities in accordance with the Housing (Disabled Persons and Essential Repairs Grants) Regulations, 1993. Subject to these Regulations, it is a matter for each authority to determine whether a grant can be paid in an individual case.
The 1993 Regulations redefined the circumstances under which grants were payable. I understand, however, that the changes made in 1993 may have led some authorities to take an unduly strict interpretation of the terms of the scheme in relation to the location of houses which could benefit. In the circumstances, my Department has recently written to local authorities clarifying that essential repairs grants may be paid where:
—the occupier is approved for local authority housing;
—the house cannot be made fit for human habitation in all respects at a reasonable cost, but the repairs proposed will prolong the useful life of the house; and
—there would be no continuing demand for local authority housing at the location of the house in respect of which the grant is sought.
Subject to compliance with these requirements, a local authority may pay an essential repairs grant in respect of a house in any area. Generally speaking, however, I would expect that only a small number of cases in built-up areas could comply with the regulations.
In circumstances where an essential repairs grant cannot be paid for a house in a built-up area, it would be open to the local authority to consider the use of the scheme of improvement works in lieu of local authority housing, if the requirements of that scheme are fulfilled.
