Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 2 June 2004
253 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if various local authorities have notified him that they do not have enough funding to meet the disabled person’s grant requirements; and if he will respond positively to the issue. [16818/04]
View answer255 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he will give local authorities a special allocation to finance disabled person’s grants. [16820/04]
View answer271 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he knows that the disabled person’s grant system in County Kildare has effectively closed operation; if officers from his Department will meet officers from the Kildare County Council to resolve the issue; and if he will commit further funding to the council for the scheme in 2004. [16955/04]
View answer
I propose to take Questions Nos. 253, 255 and 271 together.
On 20 May local authorities were notified of a capital allocation totalling €65 million for expenditure in 2004 on the disabled person's and essential repairs schemes. Each local authority decides the level of funding for schemes in their areas. Local authorities can recoup two-thirds of their expenditure on grants from my Department. They provide the remainder from their resources provided in their annual Estimates.
Local authorities were advised to notify my Department if their allocation was inadequate or surplus to their requirements. This was done to facilitate the reallocation of funds to obtain optimum effectiveness from the funding available. At 31 May two local authorities wrote to my Department seeking additional funding. Kildare County Council indicated informally that it will also seek an increased allocation. The scope for the reallocation of funds will be kept under ongoing examination in my Department for the rest of the year. All requests for additional funding will be considered in this context.
