'Outrage' as €600,000 for Laois council house adaptations goes unspent

A Laois councillor is "outraged" at the loss of €600,000 allocated to the council for adapting council houses for tenants with mobility issues.

Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley said that some people are waiting for years for wetrooms, stairlifts and downstairs bedrooms but because most of the €1 million grant was not spent this year, it had to be returned to the Government.

However Laois County Council has defended its track record in housing, and supplied a detailed account of some €755,000 of works still ongoing. 

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The Portlaoise Sinn Féin councillor told the Leinster Express that she was given the figures at the Strategic Policy Committee for Housing meeting on November 30, only after she requested the information.

She describes it as an "absolute disgrace and outrage" that Laois did not use more of the €1 million allocated to it for the scheme, with only some €400,000 spent.

"People are waiting for three or four years for maybe downstairs bedrooms or wetrooms. These are people in bad need. 

"One woman I represent is waiting for a shower and she was put on a list for next year, I was told the fund was gone. To find out it was not spent, you couldn't make it up," she said.

"Through the years we only normally got €200,000 max a year. A good case was put to the Department and for the first year we were allocated €1 million and all they managed to spend was €400,000. It has to be sent back, it can't be carried over".

"There was €1.2 million granted for private houses and they spent €900,000 which is good," she said.

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Acting Director of Services for Housing Angela McEvoy has given the following response.

"Laois County Council have always been conscious of the needs of the community and applied for a larger than normal grant in 2021. Funding was sought in April 2021 for 17 extensions and 22 units for adaptation to the value of €1,031,693 million of which €928,524 is department funded. Of the 17 extensions, 9 were approved with some of the remaining applicants transferred to appropriate/ more suitable accommodation and the remaining were deemed unsuitable for extension.

"The allocation was confirmed by the Department of Housing on the 7th May 2021 with a completion and draw down date associated of 3rd December 2021. Applications were made for a variety of measures such as stairlifts, ramps, wet rooms, etc, many of which have been completed to date.

She said they were unable to complete some before the end of this year due to construction challenges. 

"Nine extensions (to the estimated value of €755, 000 for the works involved) are at various stages of preparation from design and procurement. Whilst every effort was made to maximise the full grant, the challenges facing the Construction industry has had impact on the completion of every project put forward. Some works remain outstanding and will be completed in 2022.

"The Department has already been made aware of the issues relating to the drawdown of the funding and the necessary allocation for completion in 2022. It is noted that the track record of Laois County Council in the delivery of this Grant assistance over the past few years indicates that as many housing adaptation works as possible have been carried out year on year."

"The Housing Section continues to deliver its service is a fast changing and demanding environment whereby responding and liaising with a variety of stakeholders, applicants, Elected Members, Department officials and Contractors is carried out in a professional manner. The Pandemic whilst impacting on services generally has not lessened the rate of commitment of Housing Staff to delivering this service. Our programme of delivery will continue and no one will be disadvantaged as a result," Ms McEvoy ends. 

Below: tables supplied by Laois County Council showing the money spent on housing adaption grants for the past three years in both council and private houses.