€5.7m Needed to Fund Applications for Government/Council Disabled Schemes in Kildare

At a recent meeting of Kildare County Council Cllr Catherine Murphy was informed that the 500 plus applicants for Housing Adaptation-Mobility Aids and Essential Repair Grants for 2009 totals more than €5.7m.   

The scheme which is co-funded by Government and the County Council,  with four fifths coming from Government.   

Kildare provided €644,000  in their budget for 2009 and would require a grant from Government of  just over €2.5m to fully spend that  budget,  which it should be pointed out is less than half of the applications on hand.    

Last year Kildare got €1.9 million towards this scheme and sought an increase in 2009 because of the backlog of cases almost all of which are carried over from 2008.  

The Housing Adaptation-Mobility Aids grant includes such things as wheelchair ramps,  stair lifts,   bathroom adaptations for vulnerable/disabled people.    Essential repairs include replacement of rotten windows and doors for elderly people who don’t have the means to do the work themselves.   Both schemes are means tested.

The Government grant to Kildare in recent years compares very unfavourably with other counties,  many of whom don’t have a backlog from 2008.    Those who pay the price for this are elderly and disabled people with a Kildare address according to Cllr Murphy.

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Posted by catherinemurphy on April 4, 2009. Filed under disAbility & Special Needs,Eldercare,Healthcare,Kildare,Political & Public Service Reform. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.