Shortfall in housing grants for old claimed

THE CAMPAIGN group for older people, Age Action, has clashed with the Department of the Environment over an alleged shortfall in housing grants for elderly people.

Age Action said yesterday that there were shortfalls and delays with housing repair grants for older people, and these had occurred since the scheme was transferred from the Health Service Executive (HSE) to the department at the beginning of 2008.

Age Action spokesman Gerard Scully said the department had nominated local authorities to administer the scheme. But he said a number of authorities had told Age Action there were funding difficulties and delays.

Mr Scully said some elderly people who had applied to the HSE last year were now being told it would be next year, at best, before they would be paid.

"This is a serious issue. It will adversely affect many older people," he said. Many elderly people lived in poor housing stock, which had a direct effect on their health, both physically and psychologically.

"Older people living in poorly insulated or maintained properties may be forced into residential care," he said.

The organisation said a number of local authorities had reported difficulties with funding. It said Cork City Council and South Tipperary were not approving any grants at the moment, but were awaiting further funding later this year or early next.

The organisation also said Galway County Council had reported delays due to the volume of applications. Spokespeople for Cork and Galway County Councils were unavailable for comment yesterday. But Ger Walsh for South Tipperary County Council confirmed that more funding would be needed to meet demand.

Mr Walsh said the council had prioritised the applications received in the first half of the year, but numbers had grown significantly.

"We are not going to be able to deal with it all, we will be lucky to get to priority one," he remarked. Mr Walsh explained that last year the council had budgeted €1.9 million for two categories of housing grants. These were housing grants for disabled people and housing grants for essential repairs.

This year, with the addition of the HSE scheme for elderly people, he said, the budget was down to €1.34 million. More money was being sought from the department, he added.

However, the Department of the Environment has rejected suggestions of a shortfall, claiming the national allocation in 2008 was an increase on that for 2007. A department spokesman said: "There is no funding shortfall. The €71.4 million we gave this year exceeds last year's allocation by almost €100,000."

Requests by any local authorities for additional funding for the operation of the schemes were dealt with by the department in the context of the reallocation of surplus resources from other authorities. Applications from authorities for additional funding would be considered by the department in the light of any savings emerging later in the year in other local authority areas.