I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for taking this matter. I want to begin by recognising the significant progress that has been made with the housing adaptation grant scheme. The publication of the 2024 review led to real, meaningful reform, and I welcome the fact that many of the recommendations have been implemented from that review. The increase of more than 30% in the grant limits, the increase in the income thresholds, the reduction in the local authority contribution from 20% to 15% and the changes to the means test have made a real difference to older people and people with disabilities. They demonstrate the Government's commitment to supporting independent living. This scheme really does change lives. It allows people to remain in their homes that they have built up and built their lives in. It gives people with disabilities greater independence and dignity. It also makes good economic sense. Every adaptation that keeps somebody safely at home reduces pressure on our hospitals and our long-term residential care. As the review recognises, supporting people to age at home is better for families and communities. It is also better value for the State.

While we have improved the scheme, there is now an opportunity to make it more responsive to the realities people are facing today. Recently an elderly lady contacted me. She lives alone and relies completely on a stairlift because she cannot safely use the stairs. Her home cannot be adapted to have a downstairs bedroom or bathroom. Her concern is very simple and very real. I have raised this before and the Minister of State will be familiar with it. We suffer a lot of power outages and her stairlift is badly affected during them, so she is effectively trapped between floors when her stairlift goes out. I tried to find a practical solution, such as a battery back-up or another assistive technology, but there appears to be no mechanism within the current schemes to support this type of adaptation. In 2024, the review specifically recommended updating guidance on assistive technologies to reflect the rapidly evolving nature of these products. Will the Department now consider expanding the range of eligible works to include modern assistive technologies that improve safety, resilience and independent living?

I also want to raise another case. A family seeking an accessible extension for their child in a wheelchair with a disability had their application refused following a means test assessment,. The review in 2024 rightly recognised that assessed income based solely on the previous tax year can create an unfair outcome, and recommended the annualisation of in-year earnings based on the previous 13 weeks in certain circumstances. However, families continue to find themselves excluded in the context of changes in income relating to someone other than the main applicant. In this case, it was the applicant's child who they were trying to find. The child needs this adaptation and I would ask whether local authorities can apply more discretion in evaluating these cases. Is there scope to review how these provisions operate in practice, to ensure that deserving families are not unintentionally excluded?

While funding for 2026 has increased to over €152 million, enough to fund an estimated 17,000 grants, we already know that several local authorities in the month of June have had to close or restrict applications because their allocations are already exhausted. Without national data on applications, waiting lists or priority categories, it is impossible to know whether funding is truly keeping pace with demand. I support the recommendation by Alone, who were in the audiovisual room yesterday, that this information should be collected and published nationally. Better data will lead to better budgeting, fairer allocations and year-round access to these vital grants. This is an excellent scheme. It is improving lives every day. My request is not simply for more funding, but for it to develop as a scheme that keeps pace with technology, reflects real family circumstances and is informed by robust national data.

I thank Senator Scahill. There are three main asks in his opening remarks, namely, broadening the scope when it comes to assistive technology, means-testing and assessment of income and better data, which is also a good point.

I will outline the scheme. The Senator already mentioned how it has been expanded and improved. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage provides funding to local authorities under the housing adaptation grants for older people and the disabled people scheme to assist people in private houses to make their accommodation more suitable for their needs. These grants are available to people with an enduring physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual disability, as well as to older people who experience mobility issues or require essential repairs to their home in order that they can continue to live independently at home.

In budget 2026 we provided an annual increase of €30 million, with almost €130 million in Exchequer funding available for the scheme, or over €152 million when accounting for the local authority contribution. As the Senator has said, this significant increase in funding will support the payment of some 17,000 grant claims, as well as the continued implementation of the revised grant limits, income thresholds and the increase in the Exchequer contribution from 80% to 85%. The detailed administration of the scheme, including the assessment, approval, prioritisation and budgetary apportionment is the responsibility of local authorities. The housing adaptation grant for disabled people is available to carry out works of adaptation that, in the opinion of the local authority, are reasonably necessary for the purposes of rendering a house more suitable for a member of a household who has an enduring physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual disability.

In general, these grant schemes can be used for works such as level-access showers, accessible bathrooms, access ramps, stair lifts, fixed-track hoists or extensions. Grant aid may also be considered for assistive technologies which are infrastructure related or essential technological adaptations to the fixtures and fittings of a property. Works which may be considered include adjustable height countertops and automated or voice-activated doors, lighting and heat controls.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage completed a review of the housing adaptation grant for older people and the people with a disability scheme in 2024. The regulations for the housing adaptation grants for older people and disabled people, 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 included an increase in the grant limits of over 30% and a 25% increase in the income thresholds, while also revising the means test. The legislation also adjusts the burden sharing for local authorities by reducing the local authority funding contribution to 15%, as the Senator also outlined.

The review also recommended that the Department of housing provide updated guidance to local authorities on housing adaptation assistive technologies relating to the fixtures and fittings of a property which qualify within the schemes having regard to the evolving nature of such technology. My Department has provided guidance to local authorities and will continue to do so as technologies evolve. The key point in regard to assistive technologies is that guidance is provided. Assistive technologies are allowed. Perhaps we need to examine if they are too prescriptive, whether they need to be broader and if we need to give a bit more discretion to local authorities on assistive technology. I hear a phone ringing. I feel a bit like Roy Keane now. Whose phone was that? In cases where assistive technology is clearly beneficial then perhaps a bit more scope should be given but the schemes allow for some assistive technologies.

The changes to the means test have been significant in terms of the increased income allowed. Senator Scahill is talking about a particular instance when it applies to individual whom the grant is for.

I totally accept his point about better data. If we can collect better data it will lead to better decision-making and possibly shape the scheme going forward. We are always open to adapting and improving the schemes and to review them, as has been seen with the current schemes.

That ringtone certainly had a Roy Keane vibe.

I need assistive technology for the ringtone. I thank the Minister of State very much for his response. The review of the schemes took place in 2024. An awful lot of the recommendations have been enacted, which is wonderful. That is not something we are used to. It shows that the Minister has listened and adapted and changed the schemes.

There is a scheme to provide solar panels to medically vulnerable individuals. I was trying to see if I could get a generator or a back-up battery to support the individual. It is quite a unique case. In most cases the council could put a bathroom and bedroom downstairs. Local authorities must have discretion to evaluate cases that do not fall within the parameters. It is the same with accessible extensions for children. The local authority listened to the review, and applied the recommendations to the applicants – the income generators in the house, who are the mother and father – but the child was not factored in. Perhaps that is the element that we need. In this situation we cannot wait for the child's condition to deteriorate and then react to it. We need to be proactive in these situations.

ALONE produced a pre-budget submission. There is a lot in it about house adaptations and accessibility. Perhaps it is something we could have a chat about offline. I thank the Minister of State very much.

Absolutely. I know the Department is aware of ALONE's submission, which will be taken into account. The review was quite recent. Senator Scahill makes some very good points. Assistive technology is allowed and is catered for but we need to give better support to the local authorities to allow them to have a bit more discretion. It probably has to be within reason. There has to be a definite, obvious benefit to the person who is applying. The cases the Senator has given clearly prove that. We have a much enhanced scheme. More funding is going into it. I get the point that local authorities are oversubscribed. That is a good thing in some ways as it indicates awareness that the grants are out there. Anyone who has served on a local authority is fully aware of how the grants can change lives. We need to ensure that as many people as possible who need them can get them.