I propose to take Questions Nos. 133 and 134 together.
My Department provides funding under the suite of Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability, to assist people in private houses to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs. The grants include the Housing Adaptation Grant for People with a Disability, the Mobility Aids Grant and the Housing Aid for Older People, which are 80% funded by my Department, with a 20% contribution from the resources of the local authority. The detailed administration of these grant schemes, including assessment, approval and prioritisation, is the responsibility of local authorities. The grants fund on an annual basis approximately 10,000 home improvement and adaptation works and are hugely effective in meeting the accommodation needs of older persons and persons with a disability right across the country.
My Department's approach each year is to issue a single full year allocation to each local authority, so they can effectively plan and implement the grants programme. Over the course of the year, my Department works closely with the local authorities to monitor spend and to achieve a full drawdown of the available funding. This means that if underspends arise on the part of some local authorities, they can be redistributed to other authorities which have high levels of grant activity.
Over the course of this year, Monaghan County Council have made two separate requests for additional Exchequer funding, totalling €571,020. These requests have been approved by my Department, bringing the Council's combined allocation for 2021 to €2 million, of which €400,000 is being provided from the Council's own resources. If Monaghan County Council is in a position to allocate additional own resources to the grant scheme in 2021 further additional funding can be requested from my Department and ever effort will be made to accede to any such request.
Separately, grant aid may be considered for the provision of infrastructural and safety related adaptations to create appropriate space for applicants with specific sensory needs. Applications of this nature should be supported by a multidisciplinary assessment of the applicant by specialist healthcare professionals. This should outline who will be responsible for therapy services and/or the provision and upkeep of sensory related equipment as the grant schemes do not fund the provision of such equipment.
Funding of €75 million is available nationally in 2021 for the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability Scheme. This funding has increased year on year since 2014. As part of the annual budgetary process, consideration will be given to increasing this funding in future years in line with the Programme for Government commitments and the Policy Statement on Housing Options for Our Ageing Population, which is available on my Department's website at the following link:
www.gov.ie/en/publication/ea33c1-housing-options-for-our-ageing-population-policy-statement/
