Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 December 2004
437 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the action he is taking to correct the anomaly whereby window replacement is available under the housing aid for the elderly scheme in some health board areas but not in the Northern Area Health Board region; if he will increase funding to the ERHA to address the serious funding shortfall in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32447/04]
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The special housing aid for the elderly scheme, administrated by a task force under the aegis of my Department and operated by the health boards, was established to provide assistance to improve the housing conditions of elderly persons living alone in unfit or insanitary conditions. Typically, the work undertaken would be necessary repairs to make a dwelling habitable for the lifetime of the occupant, such as repairs to chimney or fireplace, the provision of heating, water and sanitary facilities, the repair of windows or doors, roof repairs, the provision of food storage facilities etc.
Decisions to grant assistance in individual cases are the responsibility of the health boards at local level and, having regard to the guidelines issued by the task force, it is a matter for each board to determine, within the funds available, the priority of individual cases on hands.
In recognition of the valuable work being done, I arranged to make additional funding of €4 million available to the scheme generally in 2004. A total of €2.12 million for the operation of the scheme was allocated to the Eastern Regional Health Authority in 2004, compared to €1.82 million in 2003.
