Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 January 2014
490. Deputy Billy Timmins asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government with respect to a table (details supplied), if he will provide a breakdown by local authority of the funding applied for and the headings under which each local authority application's were made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2885/14]
View answerLast year the budget allocation for the suite of Grants for Older People and People with a Disability was €34.2 million. I am pleased to be in a position to increase that funding by some 12% in 2014 to €38.4 million. Every local authority will have increased funding for grants compared to the initial allocation for 2013.
Grants were allocated on the basis of the level of activity in each local authority in 2013. No local authority got less than their 2013 allocation and additional funding was allocated across local authorities on the basis of C ensus data with a weighting in respect of persons aged over 65 years. Through careful management of my Department’s housing budget in 2013, additional funds were made available to local authorities with high levels of grant activity. I will be applying the same scrutiny to the capital budget for 2014 and, in the event of savings arising, these grants will be a priority for supplementary funding.
