18 January 2017
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
Senator Colm Burke
Senator Colm Burke, Fine Gael spokesperson for Health in the Seanad, has today welcomed the allocation to Cork City Council of €2,545,335 for housing adaption work.
“The funding from the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government will allow the City Council to carry out adaption work on a total of 42 local authority houses.
“In 2014 the City Council received €360,000 for adaption work which only allowed them to carry out work on less than 8 properties. While the funding continued to increase in 2015 and 2016 it was insufficient for the number of houses where adaption work was urgently required.
“Back in 2014 I highlighted the case of the Kiely family from Larchfield. No work was carried out on their property for 6 years, even though it was a priority case. As a result of raising the issue with the City Council, the Department and the Minister, the necessary work for this family was carried out and completed in early 2016.
“A large number of people, however, still remain on the waiting list for work to be completed on their homes. The money allocated by the Department is very welcome and will enable the City Council to carry out these much needed works and deal with the backlog of those families on the waiting list.
“I do not believe that any person who is suffering from a disability should have to wait 6 or 7 years for adaption work to be carried out on their house by the local authority.
“I am delighted that that staff in the Housing Department in Cork City Council made very detailed submissions to the Department on the work that was required and highlighting the backlog that existed. The Department have responded and it is important that the work is completed at an early date for the many individuals who have been waiting on the list for a number of years”.
