I raise the issue of housing adaptation grants for older people and people with disabilities. I know from my office that people who avail of these grants find them massively beneficial in terms of making their homes more accessible, suitable and comfortable. We all know the cost of doing work has increased dramatically and what has not increased is the value of the grants towards that cost. What is more, different local authorities are implementing the grant scheme differently and many do not pay contractors for a number of months, which is putting contractors off taking on these much-needed projects. In the lead-up to the budget, will the Government re-examine the rate at which the grants are paid to older people and people with disabilities to ensure they have access to meaningful grants when they need them to make their homes more accessible, suitable and comfortable. That also means talking to local authorities about how they deliver this scheme.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is clear from this morning's questions that the lead-in to the budget is well and truly under way, and we have maybe three months to go yet. This issue was raised yesterday evening at our parliamentary party meeting. The Deputy made a fair point and I know the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, is examining the situation. Obviously, it is in the mix but there are a lot of other issues in the context of the Estimates and there will be bilateral discussions between the Departments and the Ministers for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform and Finance.