Wheelchair user waiting six months for chair lift

A MOTHER of two foster children has been living with a hole in her floor — and no wheelchair lift — for six months because a firm that took a deposit to install the lift has not completed the work.

The company was accused yesterday of taking money from sick and vulnerable people.

The accusations against Cork-based medical supplies company, Mobility Ireland, has led to calls for greater checks and balances on the local authority disabled grants scheme.

Callers vented their anger on Neil Prendeville’s show on 96FM during the week and on Liveline yesterday.

Wheelchair user Ann Murphy from Mallow in Co Cork said Mobility Ireland was supposed to install ramps, widen doors and put a “through-floor lift” in her home.

But the married mother of two foster children said there has been a hole in a ceiling and floor since last October because the work has not been completed.

“The council won’t pay out my grant until the work is completed,” she said.

Another client had to take legal action to secure the return of a €4,800 deposit he paid the firm in June 2006 for the installation of a stair lift in a relative’s home.

“They said it would be there in four-to-six weeks. They arrived in October with a chair and a rail that wasn’t suitable for the job,” he said.

He got the deposit back in May 2007 after initiating legal proceedings. He engaged another company to carry out the work.

Fianna Fáil MEP Brian Crowley, who uses a wheelchair, said he has had several complaints about Mobility Ireland, based on the Well Road.

It installs stair lifts, special showers and ramps in the homes of disabled people.

The work can be 90% grant-aided by local authorities — up to a maximum of €31,000 — once the work is deemed necessary by an occupational therapist.

But Mr Crowley, who opened the company’s office about four years ago but who has no involvement with the business, said he was “appalled and frustrated” by how some of its clients had been treated.

All the complaints he received were about delays in stair lift installations.

Mr Crowley said he has raised his concerns with the company on several occasions and was told delays in the payment of local authority grants were to blame.

But he said he has checked this with Cork city and county councils and established this was not the case.

The local authorities should be aware this company is the subject of complaints, he said.

“But the company is responsible ultimately to deliver the service they claim to be able to deliver.”

However, Gene Barry, the owner of Mobility Ireland, defended his firm and claimed he was the victim of a smear campaign.

He claimed Ms Murphy owed his company a substantial amount of money.

He admitted there have been problems with some projects, including delays in the delivery of equipment.

“When we entered the market five years ago a stair lift cost €8,200. Today, the cost is about €6,300. Other companies don’t want us in the market.”

He also said his firm is owed up to €250,000 because of delays at local authority level in signing off on certain projects, and he called for an overhaul of the grants scheme.

He promised on national radio yesterday to return several large deposits.

But Sean McKeon, a garage owner in Cork, said an €80 cheque Mr Barry had paid for diesel on Thursday had bounced yesterday.

Caller complaints

* Pat Coveney from Cork said his 82-year-old father bought a stair lift in November 2006. He paid a deposit of about €6,000. The device never arrived. The order was cancelled in February 2007 but the money was not returned. In July, he finally got the cheque back, but it bounced.

* Oliver Terry, from Bishopstown in Cork, said his daughter, Isabel, is waiting for a heart transplant. He has ordered a chair lift from the company. But despite several calls to the office, has been unable to get updates on the product. Mr Terry said his daughter’s life depends on the delivery of the device.

* Another caller said she would not allow Mobility Ireland to deal with her elderly mother again. “I’m too annoyed with you. I want my mother’s money back to get another contractor to finish the work,” she said.

* Gloria, who has MS, said she wanted her deposit back after delays installing a stair lift.