Press Release 8th March 2010
€4.7m to Improve Homes of Older People and People with a Disability in South County Dublin – Curran
Minister of State and local Fianna Fáil T.D. John Curran welcomed the allocation of €4,766,000 to South Dublin County Council as part of an unprecedented capital provision of €100 million for grants to improve or extend the private homes of older people and people with a disability in 2010. This does not include expenditure by local authorities on improving and extending their own social housing stock. The allocation represents a massive 31% increase on the initial allocations to local authorities in 2009.
Welcoming the allocations, Minister Curran said, “I am delighted, against the backdrop of the tight constraints on the public finances, to be able to welcome this record level of funding for the Housing Adaptation Grant Schemes for Older People and People with a Disability in South County Dublin.
These schemes are vitally important in assisting older people and people with a disability in to continue living in their own homes and communities with the comfort and dignity that they deserve”.
Expenditure under the Adaptation Grant Schemes for Older People and People with a Disability and the Special Housing Aid for the Elderly Scheme, during the lifetime of this Government, from 1997 to 2009, has totalled almost €674 million with more than 130,000 grants paid.
Grants of up to €30,000 are available for improvement works and extensions to facilitate a person with a disability. Eligible works include provision of level access showers, installation of stair lifts, grab rails, access ramps etc.
The Mobility Aids Grant scheme is available to fast track grants of up to €6,000 to address the mobility problems of a member of a household. In the case of older people, a grant of up to €10,500 is available to assist householders to have necessary repairs or improvements carried out to their homes.
I am encouraging people with a disability or families who have a member of their family in need of this grant to contact South Dublin County Council to see if they are eligible to apply,” concluded Minister Curran.