Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 October 2023
283. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage his plans to increase funding of the housing adaptation grants for older persons and those with a disability; his views on the adequacy of funding allocated in budget 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43814/23]
View answer286. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will outline his plans to address the waiting lists for housing adaptation grants, as reported by several local authorities. [43830/23]
View answer307. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will consider increasing the maximum grants available for housing adaptations, particularly in the case of priority one and priority two cases, to ensure they are fit for purpose; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44071/23]
View answer308. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will consider increasing the maximum grants available for housing adaptations in Budget 2024, particularly in the case of priority one and priority two cases, to ensure they are fit for purpose; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44085/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 283, 286, 307 and 308 together.
My Department provides Exchequer funding to local authorities to support the suite of Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability which support older and disabled people living in private houses to adapt their home to meet their needs.
The grants available operate on a sliding scale with the highest percentage grants available to those with the lowest incomes. The schemes are means tested and grant assistance is not available to applicants whose household income, after disregards and deductions, exceeds €60,000 per annum. The household income approach is intended to spread the benefits of the grant scheme as widely as possible and to ensure fairness and value for money in operation of the scheme towards those with the greatest needs.
The administration of the grants scheme, including the assessment, approval and prioritisation of grant applications under the various measures, is the responsibility of each local authority. Having considered all of the circumstances in any particular case, it is a matter for the local authority to determine grant eligibility. Local authorities, in administering the scheme, work with qualifying applicants to secure the most beneficial outcome possible in line with the applicants' financial circumstances and within the parameters of the Grant Scheme.
The 2023 Exchequer provision of €66.5 million or €83.125 million when accounting for the local authority contribution. The recently announced Exchequer budgetary provision for 2024 is €74.5 million which is an increase of €8 million on last year continuing the year on year increases since 2014.
My Department advises local authorities annually that, as far as practicable, a percentage of the allocation under the schemes should be ring fenced in respect of any emergency applications which might arise under these schemes during the course of the year. Consequently, all local authorities are required to manage their schemes to ensure access to the grants programme is maintained to the extent possible throughout the year in the highest priority cases and further information in this regard would be available directly from the local authorities.
My Department works closely with the local authorities to monitor spend and to achieve a full drawdown of available funding. This means that any underspends that arise on the part of any local authority can be redistributed to other authorities which have high levels of grant activity and my Department makes every effort to redistribute such funding throughout the year. My Department encourages all local authorities to ensure all applications on hand are processed to the degree possible for final payment to ensure optimal spend on their annual allocation. Whilst additional Exchequer funding may become available, the local authorities must provide the 20% match funding from their own resources and therefore the local authorities are also managing the scheme within the resources allocated at the local level. Throughout 2023, my Department has continued to approve additional funding to local authorities, with 10 local authorities receiving approval for additional funding so far and with further requests currently under review.
Housing for All commits to reviewing the grants scheme and a report on the review has been prepared by my Department. The review was informed by engagement with external stakeholders, including the Department of Health, the HSE, the Disability Federation of Ireland and the Irish Wheelchair Association. Written submissions were also invited and considered as part of this process. Among the areas which the review considered are the income thresholds (including the means test provisions) and grant limits, and the application and decision-making processes including the supplementary documentation required.
On foot of my consideration of the Review report, my Department is engaging with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform on the recommendations in the Review report, and this engagement is ongoing at present.
