“New Penal Laws,” is how the Limerick branch of the Senior Citizen’s Parliament has described new restrictions to grants for older people and people with disabilities.
From now on applicants seeking the Housing Aid Grant for Older People must be over the age of 66 – where previously applicants needed to be 60 years of age. Also from today, the income of all household members is to be considered in means assessment for grants – up until now only the income of the applicant and the spouse was assessed. Also under the Housing Adaptation and Housing Aid Schemes, households in the lowest income band with an income of €30,000 or less will only receive 95% of the costs and not 100% as was previously the case. The upper income limit to be eligible for both schemes has been reduced by €5,000 to €60,000 and finally applicants for grants must also prove they have paid their property tax.
Paul Walsh of the Limerick branch of the parliament told th Limerick Post: “These are the new Penal Laws. But they are not targeting religion, they are targeting age. Do they realise there are people out there living on €188 a week?”.
Mr Walsh said that the new regulations are the latest in a number of measures which will life more difficult for older people.
Housing Minister Jan O’Sullivan has defended the changes, saying they will allow more people to receive grant aid.
Minister O’Sullivan says the amount of money available for the housing adaptation grant, the housing aid and the mobility aid grant has been increased from €34.3m to €38.6m this year compared to 2013.
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