COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, May 13, 2013

QUESTION NO.15

QUESTION: Councillor D. Looney

To ask the Manager for an update on the status of the HAGS, MAGS and HOPS schemes for 2013; if any contact has been made with the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government in light of concerns expressed by this Council regarding funding for the projects for 2013, and if any changes may be made to the allocation; to state how many applications have been granted and how many are in progress at present; and to state, in light of previous experience, if the Council will be able to meet the demand expected for the remainder of 2013?

REPLY:

The Council operates three Housing Grant Schemes for older people and those who are disabled as follows:

These grants are available in respect of owner occupied dwellings and certain rented dwellings (subject to written permission being provided by the Landlord).  The schemes provide that grants may be awarded by South Dublin County Council to qualified applicants subject to the criteria set out in the regulations and associated guidance documents issued by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government (DoECLG).

The Council was notified by letter dated 1st March 2013 of its 2013 *Combined Capital Allocation for the payment of the Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability Schemes in the sum of  €1,213,986.05.   This allocation represented a 40% reduction (nationally) on the 2012 spend on these grants.

The Council made a submission to the DoECLG outlining the position of the Council in relation to the funding and asked that favourable consideration be given to potentially source additional funding for these vital Housing Grant Schemes for South Dublin County Council.

A motion passed at the April 2013 Council Meeting was also submitted to the Minister.

Following the submissions to the DoECLG notification (as circulated hereunder under Correspondence) of  Supplementary Funding for Private House Grants 2013 was received dated 22nd April 2013.  This notification advised that the Department had decided to release funds from a contingency reserve to the Local Authorities that had written requesting supplementary funding and that an additional  €100,889 has been added bringing the combined exchequer and LA funding to €1,340,098.

While this additional approval is very welcome the table hereunder in relation to 2013 activity reflects the ongoing need to administer the scheme by applying an effective and easy to understand scheme of prioritisation on the basis of the medical needs of the applicant. The three levels of medical priority advised to this Council by DoECLG are as follows:

  1.  Priority 1: Terminally ill or mainly dependent on family or a carer, or where alterations/adaptations would facilitate the discharge from hospital or alleviate hospitalisation in the future.
  2. Priority 2: Mobile, but needs assistance in accessing facilities, or where, without the adaptation the disabled person's ability to function independently would be hindered.
  3. Priorty 3: The applicant is independent, but requires special facilities to improve their quality of life, e.g. separate bedroom or living space.

2013 ACTIVITY

Applications PAID from 01/01/2013 - 30/4/2013:

Scheme No of applications Paid 1st Jan – 30th April 2013
HAGS 43 461,866.10
MAGS 32 143,677.30
HOPS 14 62,760.60
  Total 668,304.00

 Applications Approved WAITING PAYMENT  from 01/01/2013 – 30/4/2013:

Scheme No of applications Amounts
HAGS 49 557,904.75
MAGS 21 93,290.19
HOPS 6 26,056.01
  Total 677,250.95

* Combined Allocation refers to the overall Approved Allocation which is 80% funded from exchequer (€1,072,078) and 20% funded from Council 's own revenue resources (€268,020).  

We will continue to monitor on a weekly basis.