This article is from page 37 of the 2010-03-02 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 37 JPG
that she received a house from the council just over two years ago. As the in1- tial house was damp, she was then moved to her current home.
“When they gave me this I thought great because they promised to do work on it,’ she said.
“This was a dump when I got it but I thought it would be done up.”
Ms Guerin said that she put in new floors, painted and refurbished the house herself as best she could.
There is still no central heating in the house, and the Stanley range
does not work properly.
The only heating in the house are two electric heaters bought by Ms Guerin, which bring some heat to a room but at a huge cost.
She also raised concerns about the electrics in the house.
Ms Guerin explained that sparks come from some electric sockets when she switches them off, some sockets don’t work properly and if she puts the television on while the washing machine-dryer is on the switch at the mains is tripped.
She said there was also a problem with sewerage coming up through her garden when she moved in first, but while the sewerage no longer comes into her garden the underlying cause has not been solved and there is still a bad stench in the house dur- ing the summer from a pipe that run under the front of her house.
As an asthmatic, Ms Guerin said it is not possible for her to stay in a house that is cold and damp, and therefore despite paying rent, she must stay with her sister.
She said her GP has also written to the council on her behalf raising concerns about her health.
In the letter he said, “the level of dampness and fungal mould” in the house has caused an acute attack of Asthma to Ms Guerin, and described the house as unacceptable.
A spokesperson for Kilrush Town Council said it was the policy of the council not to comment on any indi- vidual tenant or individual tenancy pase eel
He said however that the council had spent more than €5 million to date on preliminary works and phase one of the remedial works in John Paul Estate.
The council is now in “advanced” talks with the Department of the En- vironment, Heritage and Local Gov- ernment (DoEHLG) for funding for phase two of the programme.
‘As part of the proposed works for which we have sought funding for phase two it is proposed to refurbish all occupied houses in the estate in- cluding the provision of central heat- ing. Detailed surveys have been car- ried out on our housing stock to carry out such works as part of our submis- sion to the DOEHLG,” he said.
While awaiting that approval the council has just upgraded five houses
in John Paul Estate under the Energy Efficiency Scheme rolled out by the department.
“This allowed us to significantly improve these houses and _ bring them up to a Cl Building Energy Rating (BER). Kilrush Town Coun- cil is planning further such works in 2010. Unfortunately as we have only received a provisional allocation of €100,000 for such works in 2010 it will not be possible to upgrade all houses and some will need to be car- ried out on a planned phased basis subject to the available funding,” he said.
The council also carries out essen- tial repairs to Local Authority Hous- ing stock by using its own mainte- nance budget and the response time for dealing with such repairs is pri- oritised, he said.
‘Any issues highlighted to us of an electrical or other nature, which may affect Health and Safety, are dealt with immediately once we become aware of the issue,” he added.