Vol. 505 No. 3
197 Cecilia Keaveney asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the schemes or opportunities open to elderly people to have heating installed in their houses in view of the fact that it does not seem to be covered under health board or council works: and if he will make a statement in this year of the elderly. [13497/99]
There are a number of options currently available to local authorities to assist older people in securing necessary improvement works to their housing, including the provision of heating facilities. These include in the case of private housing: the disabled persons grants scheme, the terms of which were also significantly improved in the 1999 budget, with a 50 per cent increase in the effective maximum grant from £8,000 to £12,000 and the grant now covering up to three-quarters of the cost of works as against two-thirds previously; the scheme of improvement works in lieu of local authority housing which enables local authorities to carry out necessary improvement works to a private house as an alternative to the provision of local authority housing; and local authority house improvement loans of up to £6,000 unsecured and £15,000 secured. In the case of local authority rented dwellings, the local authority may meet the full cost of any necessary improvement works.
