Kildare Senator: Housing Adaption Grant Is Not Fit For Purpose.

Saturday, 25 September 2021 09:20

Increasingly, the grants on offer do not cover the costs of works.

A Kildare Senator says the Housing Adaption and Housing Aid grants are "not fit for purpose".

These are schemes designed to enable people to modifying their homes in accordance with their needs.

Labour Senator, Mark Wall, has requested an "urgent debate" with the Minister for Housing on the proposed review of how both grants are administered by local authorities.

He says the grants on offer do not cover the costs of works.

In one case, the cheapest quote the person dealing with his office received was more than 200% above the maximum grant payment, which is €30,000.

Senator Wall says "The quote that person sought was for the works recommended by the local authority's occupational therapist. The person had engaged with five different contractors to try to get a cheaper quote. The problem many people in Kildare and, I am sure, throughout the country are having is that the amounts being offered by the local authorities are falling well short of the increasing quotes they are getting. This is having a knock-on effect. In some cases, I am dealing with, the applicants must remain in hospital because the family cannot afford the cost of the works to bring them home."

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