This article is from page 73 of the 2008-12-16 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 73 JPG
THE number of Clare people who have sought help from the Govern- ment to help pay their mortgage in- terest this year has almost doubled on the numbers seeking assistance last year.
Statistics provided by the Minister for Social Welfare, Mary Hanafin show that 152 people have sought
supplementary welfare allowances for mortgage interest in Clare so far this year.
Highlighting the difficulty more families are experiencing in repaying their mortgages, the figures show the 152 people seeking help compares to 78 last year; 65 in 2006; 56 in 2005 and 51 in 2004.
Cllr Patricia McCarthy (Ind) yes- terday called on the Government to
provide additional help to people having difficulty paying back their mortgages.
“It’s frightening what’s going on and this is only the beginning with people losing their jobs. The great- est fear people have is losing their homes. The Government has to show leadership and we all have to pull together in this. The taxpayer has already provided a guarantee to the
banks and they should not engage in any repossessions.”
“You can’t have banks coming along and repossessing homes and selling them in a depressed housing market at a fraction of the value. That is to the benefit of no one. The people who bought these homes couldn’t qualify for social or affordable housing. It is not their fault that they had to pur- chase these homes at inflated prices
— they had no choice.
“Enough profiteering has gone on. We had it with the price of houses and we had it with the price of land. It is time to say stop’, Cllr McCarthy declared.
The supplementary welfare al- lowance scheme, administered by the HSE, provides for a weekly or monthly supplement to be paid in re- spect of mortgage interest.