Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 October 2024
459. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the amount of additional funding allocated for the housing adaptation grant for people with a disability, and for implementation of the recommendations of the adaptation grant review, in Budget 2025. [43156/24]
View answer461. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to detail the additional funding allocated to support the implementation of the ‘Housing Strategy for Disabled People 2022-2027’ in Budget 2025. [43158/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 459 and 461 together.
My Department jointly published the National Housing Strategy for Disabled People (NHSDP) 2022-2027 with the Department of Health and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth in January 2022 and jointly published the National Housing Strategy for Disabled People 2022 – 2027 Implementation Plan on 22 June 2023. The Strategy and Implementation Plan may be accessed on my Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/publication/60d76-national-housing-strategy-for-disabled-people-2022-2027/
The Strategy and Implementation Plan will operate under the framework of Housing for All. Housing for All is committed to ensuring that affordable, quality housing with an appropriate mix of housing design types provided within social housing, including universally designed units, is available to everyone in Irish society. Housing for All is being supported by record levels of funding with the Exchequer funding of €4.82bn, in 2025. The Capital provision of €3.2bn will be supplemented by Land Development Agency (LDA) investment and Housing Finance Agency (HFA) lending, resulting in an overall capital provision for housing of over €6bn for 2025.
Housing for All committed to reviewing the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability scheme. Minister O'Brien and I recently published a Report on the Review prepared by my Department which includes a proposed increase in the grant limits by over 30% and the income thresholds by 25% as well as number of other measures in relation to the means test. The Report on the Review of the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability is available on my Department’s website at the following link: gov.ie - Report on the Review of the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability (www.gov.ie)
My Department will now proceed to implement the review recommendations through bringing forward a statutory instrument as urgently as possible with the aim of introducing a revised scheme. Budget 2025 provided for an increase of €25m in the funding provision for the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability scheme, with almost €100 million allocated for 2025. This increase will underpin the introduction of the recommendations set out in the review.
