Vol. 513 No. 3
236 Dr. O'Hanlon asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he will amend the disabled person's reconstruction grant to reduce the number of personnel involved in their implementation and expedite processing of applications in view of the serious difficulty caused to disabled individuals, their family and the National Rehabilitation Hospital by the delays in processing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2675/00]
The disabled person's grant scheme is administered by local authorities in accordance with the legal framework laid down in section 6 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1979, and statutory regulations made under that Act. The framework laid down in the statutory regulations is, as far as practicable, designed to give an appropriate degree of flexibility to local authorities in administering the scheme and I have no proposals to amend the regulations in this regard.
It is, accordingly, a matter for the local authority to decide the staffing resources to be made available, the level of grants in individual cases and the circumstances in which a grant may be paid. It is, of course, also a matter for the authority to ensure that there are no undue delays in the processing of applications for disabled persons grants. If the Deputy has details of a specific case or cases where there has been an undue delay in processing disabled persons grants and if he would supply that information to me, I will have the matter pursued with the local authority.
