Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 December 2022
211. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if his Department will increase the funding allocation for Tipperary County Council housing adaptation grants to allow the council to proceed with the upgrading of double-glazing windows and doors that are in poor condition under the HOP scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60233/22]
View answerMy 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 schemes including assessment, approval and prioritisation, is the responsibility of local authorities. Local authorities receive an overall allocation, with the responsibility for the apportionment between the three schemes being a matter for each authority given their knowledge of local need.
My Department's approach every year is to issue a single full year allocation to each local authority, so they can 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. If Tipperary County Council is in a position to allocate additional own resources to the grant scheme in 2022, further additional funding can be requested from my Department and every effort will be made to accede to any such request.
Exchequer funding of €65 million is available nationally for the scheme in 2022, and the funding provision for 2023 has been increased by €2 million to a total of €67 million, continuing the year-on-year increases 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/
