Kerry denies only 16% of home budget spent

KERRY County Council yesterday rejected claims it had spent only 16% of its €3.2 million budget for home adaptation grants for the elderly and disabled.

Fine Gael spokesperson for older persons Catherine Byrne expressed “bewilderment” at reports the council had only drawn down €512,000 of its budget.

But, a council spokesman told the Irish Examiner last evening there had been a dramatic increase in numbers of people claiming the grant in recent weeks. One of the problems, he said, was that the council was only notified of the grant in March, and people could only then be told they had been approved for grants.