Complaints over heating at sheltered housing
Heating arrangements at Cluain Dara in Fermoy have been called into question by some residents of the sheltered accommodation, who say they must spend extra money on fuel when they are cold.
"I get up at 6.30 and I turn on the grill in the cooker to stay warm until the heating comes on," Gerry O'Donovan, who has lived in Cluain Dara for 10 years, said. "I buy coal, but that's very expensive. Sometimes I go out for a spin in the car and turn the heating up full to get warm."
Clare Lombard, who is Mr O'Donovan's next door neighbour at Cluain Dara agreed, saying that she has recently had to 'go out for walks' to warm up.
Brendan O'Brien, who has been living at Cluain Dara for the past nine years, said he used to light fires to increase the heat in his house, but he can no longer do so because he has an increased risk of falls.
Mr O'Brien said he wraps blankets around his shoulders and legs to stay warm during the afternoons if the heating isn't on. "There is no heating until five in the afternoon so if you get cold, you put a blanket around you," Mr O'Brien said.
OTHERS SATISFIED
Cluain Dara's heating system, which is controlled from a central location, operates from 8.30am until 10am in the morning and from 5pm to 10pm in the evening, residents and the board of management confirmed.
Residents pay €115 per week for their accommodation and this includes partial heating costs; however, if they wish to heat their homes more, they must pay for solid fuel or electric heaters themselves. Residents pay their own electricity bills.
While several residents of Cluain Dara sheltered housing in Fermoy spoke to The Avondhu and said they were not happy with the heating situation, other residents, including Sheila Lonergan, who has lived at Cluain Dara for four years, said she and other were satisfied with the heating arrangements at Cluain Dara. "Staff will put the heating on for extra time if asked," Mrs Lonergan said.
"The position as regards the heating is that in their contract and publication, we are obliged to provide partial heating," William Lonergan, the chairperson of Cluain Dara's Board of Management said. Mr Lonergan confirmed the official hours for heating were from 8.30am until 10am and then 5pm until 10pm in the evening, however, he said the heating was turned on outside of these hours when the weather was cold.
"When it's very cold, at the discretion of the caretaker, it’s put on," Mr Lonergan said. "Outside of that, they can supply their own heating if they wish."
However, dissatisfied residents said the heating should not be controlled from a central location but from inside their homes, as having to ask for extra heating became an issue of dignity.
"We should not have to be asking to have the heating turned on, as if you're begging for what you're entitled to," Ms Lombard said.