Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 7 Mar 2001

Vol. 532 No. 2

Written Answers. - Housing Aid for the Elderly.

Róisín Shortall

Question:

165 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the serious backlog of work under the special housing aid for the elderly scheme within the eastern region; the percentage of the total fund which was allocated to the eastern region in each of the past five years; the reason this does not reflect the size of population in the east which is over one-third of the national population; and if he will take urgent action to ensure that the east receives its fair share of funding in order to tackle the long backlog of work. [7145/01]

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

The allocation of funds to the health boards is determined by the task force on special housing aid for the elderly, which, under the aegis of my Department, administers the scheme and is based not on the geographical spread of the population but on information received from the health boards on their level of activity, the number of applications on hands and the estimated cost of these applications.

The percentage of the total provision which was allocated to the Eastern Health Board in the past five years is set out in the following table:

1996	1997	1998	1999	2000
17.5%	17.4%	18%	18.3%	16.8%