Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 October 2023
180. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage for a breakdown of the €8 million additional funding for housing adaptation grants in Budget 2024, in terms of the disability and older persons' grants. [45488/23]
View answer181. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide more detail on the funding announced as part of Budget 2024, for pilot housing schemes around older people and people with disabilities. [45489/23]
View answer182. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to outline how much funding for the capital assistance scheme will be allocated in Budget 2024. [45490/23]
View answer183. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage how much funding has been allocated for the disabled persons grant and improvement works in lieu schemes in Budget 2024. [45491/23]
View answer186. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage whether funding was provided in Budget 2024 to increase the income thresholds for housing adaptation grants for older people and people with a disability. [45519/23]
View answer188. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage how much funding for the capital advance leasing facility will be allocated in Budget 2024. [45596/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 180 to 183, inclusive, 186 and 188 together.
The Revised Estimates Volume for the Public Service (REV) is published in mid-December every year. This provides final detail on the allocations by subhead for the following year and takes into account both the Programme level allocations announced at Budget and any additional allocations, for example just transition, carbon fund, etc. Accordingly, the numbers presented below may vary.
Reflecting the priority placed on Housing for All, the Government’s national housing strategy, there will be record €5bn capital investment in housing in 2024 - comprising €2.6bn Exchequer, €978m Land Development Agency (LDA) and €1.5bn Housing Finance Agency (HFA) funding. Current and Capital allocations in 2024 will be further supplemented though additional funding of €151m for housing purposes provided by certain local authorities from Local Property Tax (LPT) receipts.
The National Development Plan (NDP) Capital Ceiling provision in 2024 represents an increase of €358m on the 2023 provision. Furthermore, additional NDP Capital funding of €250m for 2024 will be distributed in the coming months further increasing the allocation to Vote 34.
In addition to Vote 34 the LDA and HFA are crucial to our Housing for All plans and I will be seeking Cabinet approval in the coming weeks to capitalise the LDA in the order of €6bn and increase the HFA borrowing limit from €10bn to €12bn as part of Ireland’s long term housing investment plans.
Housing for All committed to reviewing the suite of Private Housing Grants and a report on the review has been prepared. 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.
In addition, my Department also supports a pilot project to assist older homeowners to remain in their homes by upgrading and adapting the home to incorporate redesigned space upstairs as rental accommodation.
The Budget 2024 allocations for the respective subheads referred to in the Questions are set out below:
A.7 - Capital Assistance Scheme capital allocation is €140m.
A.11 - Capital Advance Leasing Facility capital allocation is €315m.
A.14 - Housing for People with a Disability & Older People current allocation is €2m and capital allocation is €1.3m.
A.18 - Private Housing Grants capital allocation is €75m.
A.29 - DPG/Improvements/Remedials capital allocation is €25m.
