Housing scheme fiasco leaves €100,000 bill

HOMES built for people with special needs have to be redesigned at a cost of up to €100,000 because the doors on some are too narrow to allow wheelchair access.

The nine local authority houses among 46 being developed in Enniscorthy, County Wexford by the town council will have to be re-adapted to provide a host of aids for their tenants. Baths were included in many of the homes, not showers as would be required. And the necessary non-slip flooring was not fitted in others.

Local Fianna Fail councillor, Peter Byrne is furious and says the work will not only cost the taxpayer but will also delay the project. He raised the matter at the recent urban district council meeting and the local authority admitted its error.

The developers at the site at Cluain Dara on the outskirts of the town were not at fault and built the homes as specified by their client.

"I'm a town councillor now 19 years and never in my days have I seen anything like this. It's a major blunder. These homes were finished in March but were not allocated until about three weeks ago. It was then that this situation came to light.

"I wanted the council to allocate these houses when they were finished. But they wouldn't because they could not secure the rest of the site.

"We're now in a situation where we have to go back to the plumbers and carpenters and others, and people who would be in these homes by Christmas won't now be accommodated until late January. All the time, we are losing rent," he said.

A spokesperson for Enniscorthy Town Council said yesterday that those allocated the homes had various special needs and that the homes could not be fitted out to cater for their needs until now.

"Do you allocate a house to someone a year in advance and hope that their needs will not change or their condition deteriorate, or do you wait until you have allocated the homes and then fit them out?

"None of the houses have yet been occupied but they will be in the coming weeks. And the necessary works which need to be carried out will be financed by the Department of the Environment. We do not yet have an estimate on costs," he said.

Director of services with the local authority, Ann O'Reilly, said she was having the matter investigated with the National Building Agency, the company of architects and quantity surveyors who designed and oversaw the project.

"My priority is to get people into these houses, not to look to blame anyone," Ms O'Reilly said.