Michael Ring
Question:205 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he has plans to introduce housing grants to repair older homes for people under the age of 65, in the middle or low income brackets. [14275/01]
Written Answers - Housing Grants.
There are a number of targeted options currently available to assist low-income households and especially vulnerable groups to secure necessary improvements works to their houses. These include the local authority house improvement loan scheme, the disabled persons and essential repairs grant schemes and the improvement works in lieu of local authority housing scheme. I have no proposals at this stage to re-introduce a generally available house improvement grant scheme. Any consideration of a re-introduction of house improvement grants must have regard to the capacity constraints in the construction sector and consequent impacts on costs and availability of contractors.