Cllr. Harry Barrett has described as “bizarre” the news that Mayo County Council drew down less than 30 per cent of the funds allocated to it for home adaptation grants by the end of September, according to figures released by the Department of the Environment.
The means-tested grants are designed to help older people and people with disabilities carry out work to their homes such as making them wheelchair-accessible, adding downstairs bathrooms, or fitting stair-lifts, especially after a person returns home following hospitalisation.
According to the report, Mayo, Louth, and Dún Laoghaire county councils and Galway City Council all had drawn down less than 30 per cent of their allotted funds by September 30. Almost €100 million was allocated to the scheme in March, but less than €45 million has been drawn down so far.
Cllr Barrett added that if the local authorities do not use their funding by the end of the year it will be lost to them.
The Department of the Environment has already taken some funds from unnamed local authorities and redistributed them to councils in Meath, Waterford, and Limerick.
“This is truly bizarre,” Cllr Barrett said. “Groups representing the elderly and those with disabilities should be informed of this state of affairs immediately. There is a still a huge amount of money available for these crucial home improvements. It seems logical to me that Mayo County Council should write to these groups asking them to work with the elderly and those with disabilities so that more applications are made for funding. If the funding is not drawn down by the end of the year it will be spent elsewhere. This cannot be allowed to happen.
“I am calling on Mayo County Council to address this oversight immediately and to take action before this vital money is lost to some other county.”
