Age Action Confirms There Are Funding Problems with the Housing Repair Scheme for Older People
22/08/2008

Having contacted a number of County and City Councils throughout the country Age Action can confirm that there are councils that have had to limit the number of grants being approved because of funding problems. This will have adversely effect many older people. Councils such as Cork City Council South Tipperary are not approving any grants at the moment but they are waiting further funding later this year or early. Galway County have also told Age Action that they are at the moment experiencing delays due to the volume of applications. The story is not all black though as counties such as Leitrim and North Tipperary are still approving grants but North Tipperary are saying the their funding will be running out soon.

Given the poor condition of the housing stock owned by older people this problem has a direct effect on the health of older people both physical and psychological. Older people living in poorly insulated or maintained properties may be forced into residential care. The level of need for these grants needs to be nationally assessed with sufficient funding being allocated to each county at the beginning of the year so that delays and backlogs can be removed from the system. What is happening at the moment is that funding approved this year is often being spent on backlogs from last year.