Council tenants get less money

Local authority tenants who need to adapt their homes because of disability or illness are being discriminated against.

That’s the claim from a number of Cork county councillors, who are to write to the Department of the Environment to seek increased funding to adapt their homes.

The issue was raised by Cllr John Paul O’Shea (Ind) who said that last year the council got just over €300,000 from the department to carry out house adaptions for its tenants, while €4.2m was handed out in similar grants for people living in private houses in the county.

He said the money received from the department for work on council houses was topped up by the local authority, but it “is only going some way to financing two extensions and 46 minor works which have been approved by the Housing Directorate to proceed”.

Cllr O’Shea added that work was required on a further 38 extensions and 55 minor alterations to council houses and some of these approved applications dated back to 2009.

“Substantial funding is required in order that we can facilitate these adaptations for our tenants, which have all been medically assessed and approved to be in need of same,” the councillor said.

He quoted a number of cases which were in urgent need of funding, including a family with a severely-disabled 7.5 stone child who has to be constantly lifted up and down stairs.

Cllr Noel McCarthy (Lab) said he was also aware of a similar case and it was simply unacceptable that such people were left in limbo due to inadequate funding.

The Mayor of County Cork, Cllr Alan Coleman (FF), said it was “simply outrageous” that council tenants were being left behind, while his party colleague Cllr Seamus McGrath said the funding from the department was “paltry, to say the least”.

Cllr Rachel McCarthy (SF) called for the council to write to the department, which was agreed by all of her colleagues.

Council chief executive Tim Lucey said that “there was no doubt there is a significant need for funding for publicly-owned homes”.

He said it would take a lot of money to address the backlog.