Beverley Flynn
Question:281 Ms Cooper-Flynn asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the criteria to be used by county councils in accessing the eligibility for the essential repairs grant. [14731/01]
Written Answers. - Housing Grants.
Essential repairs grants are administered by local authorities in accordance with the Housing (Disabled Person's and Essential Repairs Grants) Regulations, 1993 and guidelines issued by my Department. The regulations and the guidelines give certain discretion to the local authorities in relation to the nature of works to be grant aided, the determination as to whether an application meets the eligibility criteria, the amount of assistance to be provided, the relative priority of applications, etc. The grants are available to elderly persons living alone or with other such persons and are payable in respect of houses which cannot be made fit for human habitation in all respects at a reasonable cost in circumstances where, with the carrying out of necessary essential repairs, the life of a house would be prolonged to provide an acceptable standard of accommodation for the occupants. Authorities may pay grants up to the full approved cost of the repairs and recoup two thirds of their expenditure on such grants, to a current limit of £5,000 in any one case, from my Department.