Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 19 Nov 1998

Vol. 497 No. 1

Adjournment Debate. - Housing Grants.

Mr. Wall

The essential repairs grant scheme as operated by Kildare County Council deprives people of payments if the grant is sought for repairs to kitchens and bathrooms with flat roofs. This is totally unacceptable.

Houses, especially rural houses, in the 1950s and 1960s did not have toilet, bathroom or kitchen facilities. This problem was overcome when families built kitchens which, in almost all cases, had flat roofs. These roofs are now causing major problems as they leak and are in poor condition. In almost all cases, these houses are occupied by the elderly who cannot afford to make repairs.

These people cannot use vital facilities such as bathrooms, toilets or kitchens. The idea was that such facilities would be provided for them but the council is saying the opposite. It is claiming that the essential repairs grant cannot be paid and they must move back into the original house. This is a joke. These people have no money to make their houses habitable yet they are being refused a miserly £2,000 to rectify the problems so that they could use their houses for the rest of their lives. They are living in deplorable conditions. In one instance, an old age pensioner is living with a 36 year old mentally handicapped son. They cannot use the toilet as the roof is falling in. The council says it cannot give an essential repairs grant in this case. Another pensioner has to sweep rain water on to the street through the front door. This suffering is taking place despite the Celtic tiger economy.

In this time of economic boom, I appeal to the Minister of State to instruct that such repairs be carried out under the essential repairs grant scheme. We are not talking about a large amount of money — £2,000. In almost all cases, that money would cover the cost of the repairs necessary. The Minister for the Environment and Local Government should instruct local authorities to issue grants to these unfortunate people.

Mr. D. Wallace

I thank Deputy Wall for raising this issue. The essential repairs grant scheme is a long established social housing option. It is a modest but very worthwhile measure as it enables people in accommodation which cannot be made fit in all respects at a reasonable cost, to have basic repairs carried out to their houses so that they can continue to provide an acceptable standard of accommodation for the occupants. The scheme is generally used to secure essential repairs to dwellings occupied by elderly persons, often in isolated rural areas and, in 1997, local authorities paid out 896 grants to the value of more than £1.5 million.

The scheme is administered entirely by local authorities within the policy framework set out in the Housing (Disabled Persons and Essential Repairs Grants) Regulations, 1993. My Department's main role in the scheme is to provide financial assistance in respect of grants paid. Half of each grant paid by local authorities is recouped by my Department subject to a maximum recoupment of £900 in each case.

Essential repairs grants may, in accordance with the statutory regulations, 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; there would be no continuing demand for local authority housing at the location of the house in respect of which a grant is paid.

The grant by the local authority may be the full approved cost of the repairs, subject to a maximum, which is adjusted in line with the house building cost index, and currently stands at more than £5,500.

The structure under which the scheme operates confers a degree of flexibility on local authorities to enable them to deal appropriately with individual applications in the light of local circumstances. In view of the nature of the scheme, the best interests of grant applicants may not be served by an undue level of uniformity in its operation. Successive Governments have pursued a policy of devolving appropriate functions to local authorities. Real devolution means handing over responsibility for decision making. The essential repairs grant scheme which is devolved to the authorities, requires local authorities to take and be accountable for their decisions.

I am aware that Deputy Wall has a particular concern about whether an essential repairs grant may be paid in respect of repairs to flat roof extensions to houses. I confirm that the statutory regulations would not, in general, preclude the payment of a grant in respect of the repair of a flat roofed extension to a house and I suggest that he take up the matter with Kildare County Council on this basis. In the circumstances, I will also have my Department make contact with the council in this aspect of its operation of the scheme.