Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 30 Mar 1999

Vol. 502 No. 6

Written Answers. - Housing Grants.

Michael Ring

Question:

233 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the amount of money by way of grant aid for essential repairs a county council is allowed to allocate to any one individual applicant; and if this ceiling varies from county to county. [8781/99]

Michael Ring

Question:

234 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the age an applicant must have reached before his application for essential repairs will be considered. [8782/99]

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment and Local Government (Mr. Molloy)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 233 and 234 together.

Essential repair grants are administered by local authorities in accordance with the Housing (Disabled Persons and Essential Repairs Grants) Regulations, 1993 and guidelines issued by my Department. The regulations and the guidelines give certain discretion to the local authorities in relation to the nature of works to be grant aided, the determination as to whether an application meets the eligibility criteria, the amount of assistance to be provided, the relative priority of applications, etc.

The regulations or guidelines do not stipulate an age which an applicant must have reached in order to qualify for an essential repairs grant. The grants are available to elderly persons living alone or with other such persons and are payable in respect of houses which cannot be made fit for human habitation in all respects at a reasonable cost in circumstances where, with the carrying out of necessary essential repairs, the life of a house would be prolonged to provide an acceptable standard of accommodation for the occupants.

Under the scheme, authorities may pay grants up to the full approved cost of the repairs and recoup two thirds of their expenditure on such grants, to a current limit of £3,000 in any one case, from my Department.