One in four elderly 'no central heating'

One in four elderly people in Ireland live in houses with no central heating, according to a report published today by the Government’s Economic and Social Research Institute.

The report also said that one-third of rented council houses had no central heating systems.

Dorothy Watson, who helped author the report, said the reason why so many elderly people had no central heating was because they lived in older houses.

In total, she said, around 90% of houses in Ireland had central heating, with such systems installed as standard in most new dwellings.