Social Democrats TD Cian O\u2019Callaghan has expressed concern after new figures show that Government funding for housing adaptation grants have not kept pace with the rise in Ireland\u2019s ageing population.<\/p>\n
Deputy O\u2019Callaghan, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on housing, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe funding allocation announced by the Department of Local Government shows that 13,000 grants will be awarded this year. However, the charity Alone has pointed out that this is lower than the 13,588 grants funded 14 years ago in 2010.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince then, the over-65s population has increased from 515,100 people to 806,300.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year\u2019s allocation is also less than the 13,698 awarded for 2023, which is simply not good enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite a reported increase in funding for the grants in Budget 2024 to \u20ac75 million, the reality is that this figure simply replicates the amount for the previous year. In fact, some local authorities will receive less funding in 2024 than they did last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is also frustrating that two years after a review of the grants was commenced, a report is still awaited.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn addition, despite a commitment from the previous Government that waiting lists for housing adaptations would be published by the end of 2019, we are now five years on and this has not been completed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese grants are vital in helping senior citizens and people with disabilities to remain living at home. It is essential that they are sufficiently funded and that the scheme is fit for purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n
June 3, 2024<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Social Democrats TD Cian O\u2019Callaghan has expressed concern after new figures show that Government funding for housing adaptation grants have not kept pace with the rise in Ireland\u2019s ageing population. Deputy O\u2019Callaghan, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on housing, said: \u201cThe funding allocation announced by the Department of Local Government shows that 13,000 grants will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2065,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[278,10,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cian-ocallaghan","category-housing-crisis","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n