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Pringle calls for steps to make housing adaptation grant scheme more effective
- Updated: 2nd June 2022
Independent TD for Donegal, Thomas Pringle, said housing adaptation grants must go further in relation to cost of works.
Addressing the Dáil on Wednesday, Deputy Pringle said: “We have to try and find a way to make the grants do what they’re supposed to do.”
He recalled that in the early 2000s, Donegal County Council, because of a reduction in funding that council received for the grants each year, introduced a limit on what could be available for different types of works in an attempt to make the money reach more people.
However, the deputy said, this reduced the effectiveness of the grants.
Deputy Pringle said: “And that’s a problem. And I think it’s why we have to try and find a way to make the grants do what they’re supposed to do and actually make them worthwhile as well for people to apply for.” That comes back to increased funding from the department, he said.
The deputy said that “the department might say that the council can come up with money, but really and truly I think 80 per cent of the council’s funding comes from the government in one source or another, so there is very little room for councils to raise funding for that”.
Deputy Pringle suggested the possibility of looking at some type of VAT rebate as a way of making the grants more effective, because “something needs to be done”. He said the grants are “vitally important and are needed right across the board”.
The deputy said he was speaking with someone in Letterkenny yesterday who received approval for a grant of €30,000, but the cost of works had risen from €60,000 to €70,000, and were approaching €80,000.
Deputy Pringle said: “That person is on a disability allowance, and cannot afford to meet that balance. How can you meet €50,000 of a balance when you’re on a disability allowance? It’s just not possible.”
He said: “That is something that needs to be looked at and it needs to be addressed.”
The deputy was speaking in support of a Regional Group motion on mobility and transport supports for people with disabilities.
Deputy Pringle said: “I think there are things that probably can be looked at in terms of making the scheme more effective and making it more workable for people, and I hope that the department will be looking at that to ensure it does go further for people.”
