Vol. 511 No. 3
261 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if, further to Parliamentary Question No. 312 of 16 November 1999, his Department will agree to a 100 per cent grant in circumstances where the applicant is an old age pensioner who could not afford a house improvement grant or would not be allocated one; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24448/99]
I refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No. 312 of 16 November 1999 in which I outlined significant improvements to the terms and conditions of the disabled persons grants scheme which I introduced in December last.
As I indicated, in the case of local authority rented houses a disabled persons grant covers the full cost of the approved works subject to an effective maximum grant payable of £12,000. A grant totalling three-quarters of the approved cost of the works, compared to two-thirds previously, is now payable in respect of private houses, subject to the overall effective maximum grant.
In cases where an applicant faces a difficulty in meeting their portion of the total cost of the works involved, local authorities may assist through the provision of a house improvement loan. If the applicant cannot afford to avail of the loan scheme due to the cost of servicing a loan, it would be open to the authority to provide the full cost of the works under the scheme of improvement works in lieu of local authority housing, subject to the applicant being approved for local authority housing.
The full cost of urgently necessary house improvement works is also available to elderly persons under the task force on special housing aid for the elderly. The scheme is funded by my Department and operated by the health boards. I have allocated record funding of £7 million to the task force for 2000.
