1903. Deputy Brian Brennan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will review the scope of the works to be covered under the housing aid for older people grant scheme (details supplied). [62968/26]

1935. Deputy Brian Brennan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if additional funding has been requested or can be considered to be made available to Wicklow County Council (details supplied) to allow them to reopen a scheme to new applicants and process all those to hand. [63632/26]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1903 and 1935 together.

My Department provides Exchequer funding to local authorities under the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and Disabled People scheme, to assist people in private houses to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs. The grants include the Housing Adaptation Grant for Disabled People, the Mobility Aids Grant and the Housing Aid for Older People Grant, which are funded by my Department, with a contribution from the resources of the local authority.

Qualifying works under the Housing Aid for the Older People grant include structural repairs or improvements, upgrading unsafe electrical wiring, drylining, repair or replacement of windows and doors and the repair or provision of central heating (where no central heating exists or the existing system is broken or beyond repair).

My Department completed a review of the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability scheme in 2024, including a review of the Means Test, and the Report on the Review is available on the Department’s website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/publications/report-on-the-review-of-the-housing-adaptation-grants-for-older-people-and-people-with-a-disability/.

The Housing (Adaptation Grants for Older People and Disabled People) Regulations 2024, which came into effect on 1 December 2024, provide the legal basis for the introduction of the recommendations set out in the review. The key changes include an increase in the grant limits of over 30% and the income thresholds by 25% whilst also revising the means test. The legislation also adjusts the burden sharing for local authorities by reducing the local authority funding contribution to 15% (from the previous 20%).

The detailed administration of the grants scheme, including the assessment, approval and prioritisation of grant applications under the various measures, is the responsibility of each local authority.

Having considered all of the circumstances in any particular case, it is a matter for the local authority to determine grant eligibility. Local authorities, in administering the scheme, work with qualifying applicants to secure the most beneficial outcome possible in line with the applicants' financial circumstances and within the parameters of the grant scheme.

The Exchequer funding available for these grants in 2026 increased substantially by €30 million to €129.5 million, or over €152 million when accounting for the local authority contribution, continuing the year on year increases since 2014.

Details on the allocations for 2026 are available on my Department's website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/press-releases/increased-funding-of-almost-130m-announced-to-improve-homes-for-older-people-and-disabled-people/.

Details of the allocations and drawdown for 2025 are available on my Department's website at the following link: www.gov.ie/en/department-of-housing-local-government-and-heritage/collections/other-local-authority-housing-scheme-statistics/.

My Department works closely with local authorities throughout the year to monitor expenditure and to ensure full drawdown of available funding. Where underspends arise in one local authority area, every effort is made to redistribute funding to local authorities with higher levels of grant activity and demand. My Department also advises local authorities, as far as practicable, to ring-fence a proportion of their allocation for emergency applications that may arise during the year, particularly in the highest priority cases.

It is open to each local authority, including Wicklow County Council to apply for additional funding in 2026 to the Department for consideration. All local authorities, including Wicklow County Council, must optimise the administration of the grant scheme in order to achieve full spend of available national Exchequer funding annually.