Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 16 December 2025
576. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total funding allocated to Carlow County Council for housing grants in 2025, under housing aid for older people grant, housing adaptation grant for people with a disability and mobility aids grant, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [71936/25]
View answer577. Deputy Catherine Callaghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the total funding drawn down by Carlow County Council for housing Grants in 2025, under housing aid for older people grant, housing adaptation grant for people with a disability and mobility aids grant, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [71937/25]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 576 and 577 together.
My Department provides funding under the suite of Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and Disabled People, to assist those in private houses to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs. The suite of grants, which include the Housing Adaptation Grant for Disabled People, the Mobility Aids Grant and the Housing Aid for Older People Grant, are funded by my Department with a contribution from the local authority. The detailed administration of the scheme including assessment, approval, prioritisation and apportionment is the responsibility of local authorities.
The Exchequer funding available for these grants in 2025 has been increased substantially by €25 million to €99.5 million, or over €117 million when accounting for the local authority contribution. Carlow County Council received an Exchequer allocation of over €1.6 million, an increase of 17% on the original allocation in 2024.
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.
Carlow County Council requested additional funding from my Department, during 2025, which considered and approved a further Exchequer allocation provision of €216,822 in July 2025. In October 2025, Carlow County Council informed my Department that the additional funding approved was no longer required.
The total funding drawn down by local authorities will be available on my Department’s website in early 2026.
Budget 2026 provides a further increase of €30 million for the scheme, with almost €130 million available, continuing the year on year increases since 2014.
