This article is from page 15 of the 2009-05-26 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 15 JPG
ELDERLY Clare people waiting for local authority housing aid will die before they reach the top of the wait- ing list.
That is the opinion of north Clare councillor Joe Arkins (FG) who de- scribed the announced €1 million cuts in housing aid for the elderly and disabled as an insult to the most vulnerable people in society.
Last year, the Department of the Environment allocated €2.7 million towards elderly and disabled housing in Clare.
This allocation was enough to tack- le roughly half of the people on the waiting list in the county.
The department announced last week that this figure would be slashed to €1.7 million in 2009.
“This allocation is virtually half the funding which was received in
previous years. The €2.7 million fell short of what was required, and only completed half of the works on the waiting lists,” said Cllr Arkins.
“Taking into account the backlog from previous years, the current al- location wouldn’t even scratch the surface of the problem. Older peo- ple were on a waiting list for these grants and some would die before they get the approval to commence the works.
“The elderly people of Clare feel let down yet again by this Government. Elderly and disabled people who need to have bathroom facilities con- verted, need to have this work done immediately and cannot wait until the recession ends or the banks are bailed out.”
The funding covers the Housing Aid for the Elderly Scheme, Mobil- ity Aids Scheme and Housing Adap- tation Grants.