I propose to take Questions Nos. 456 and 475 together.
On 22 February 2013 I announced capital allocations to local authorities under the suite of Grants for Older People and People with a Disability amounting to €42.750 million. Through active management of my Department’s overall housing budget for 2013, I allocated further funding across all local authorities on 19 July bringing the overall funding for these grants to €45.607 million. I am currently reviewing the operation of the suite of Grants for Older People and People with a Disability with the objective of targeting those in most need and ensuring that the maximum numbers of households can benefit from these schemes. I intend to announce revised terms and conditions for the grant schemes later this year. Capital allocations to local authorities for next year are currently being considered in the context of the Estimates for 2014.
My Department’s involvement with the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability relates primarily to the recoupment of a proportion of local authority expenditure on the payment of individual grants. The detailed administration of these schemes, including the assessment, approval and payment of grants to individual applicants under the various grant measures, is the responsibility of the relevant local authority, in this case Dublin City Council. Information in relation to the funding allocations to Dublin City Council over the period 2010 to date is set out in the following table.
City/County Council
|
2010
|
2011
|
2012
|
2013
|
Dublin City
|
€14,125,000
|
€8,689,330
|
€9,518,318
|
€5,512,886
|