WELCOMING the announcement of increased funding for housing adaptation grants for older people and people with disabilities,Limerick Sinn Féin Councillor Sharon Benson has expressed disappointment that the maximum grant available under the scheme wasn’t also raised.
“While Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien was praised for increasing the fund, I am concerned that he has yet to address the issues with caps on the grants which is effectively locking people out of the scheme” Cllr Benson explained.
“Last year I called on the Minister to address the cap of €30,000 which is no longer capable of covering the cost of carrying out these works due to the rocketing cost of inflation, particularly in the cost of construction.
“Limerick City and County Council’s Disability Strategy Plan, which was adopted earlier in the year, also calls for a review of the caps stating that “the Housing Adaptation Grant upper limit of €30,000 is out of touch with current building prices and material cost inflation.”
“We were seeing prices as much as €47,000 being the lowest quoted price for works while the grant will only cover €30,000 of this and struggling families are unable to bridge the gap.
“We have learned that in the past 12 months that some building materials like steel have increased by 100 per cent and are continuing to rise. Builders are anticipating a further 10 per cent increase this month.
“Much of these increases have been attributed to the shortage of materials coming out of the Covid pandemic, but have been really affected by the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
“I again call on the Minister to address the issues of the caps for this scheme as it is needed to match the rise in inflation.”
