Vol. 537 No. 5
399 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the various grants which are available to persons, who have been classified by the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs as being 100% disabled under the disabled pensions scheme; the relevant grants which are available to persons who want to construct a dwelling house, or who want to acquire a dwelling house for their use; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16883/01]
Under the disabled persons grant scheme local authorities may pay a grant for the provision of additional accommodation or necessary works of adaptation to a house to meet the needs of a disabled member of the household. I have improved the terms and conditions of this scheme on three occasions since 1997 with the effective maximum grant now £16,000, double what it was in 1997. I have also introduced an effective maximum grant of £10,000 towards the purchase of a new house specially adapted for a disabled person. Previously the maximum grant available for a disabled person purchasing or building a new house was £3,000 under the new house grant scheme. The difference between the £10,000 new house maximum and the £16,000 maximum for adaptation works reflects the fact that it is more costly to provide for the needs of a disabled person when adapting an existing house than when building a new house.
In the case of a private house, the grant may now cover 90% of the approved cost of the works, compared to two thirds in 1997, while the full cost of the works are covered in the case of a local authority house. Where applicants face a difficulty funding their element of the cost of the works there are a number of options open to local authorities to assist, for example, by funding the cost of the works under the scheme of improvement works in lieu of local authority housing or by advancing a local authority house improvement loan.
