O’Sullivan welcomes funding to help with home improvements

Over €8.7m in funding for Housing Adaptation Grants for Older People and People with a Disability across Cork City and county has been welcomed this week by Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North Central, Padraig O’Sullivan.

Grants of up to €30,000 are available to assist people with a disability in carrying out necessary works to make a house more suitable for their needs. Additionally, grants of up to €8,000 are available to assist older people to have necessary repairs or improvements carried out on their homes and grants of up to €6,000 are available for mobility aids.

Commenting on Monday, Deputy O’Sullivan said: “I am pleased that funding for our Local Authorities to administer this scheme has been increasing year on year since 2014. This shows the importance that is attached to the scheme and the Government’s commitment to older people and those with a disability.

“Home adaptations help reduce the dependency on our health services by supporting independent living for as long as possible and in other instances facilitate an early return from hospital, taking pressure off already over-burdened services. These grants will also provide a boost to our local economy, creating employment opportunities for local contractors.”

OVER €6M FOR CORK COUNTY

The fund announced on Monday, which supports home adaptations for older people, those with a disability and people with mobility issues, provides 80% exchequer funding through the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, with the remaining 20% in funding coming from the relevant local authority. In total, Cork

County Council has received a funding allocation of just over €6M, consisting of €4.8M exchequer funding and €1.2M in local authority funding.

In January, the Government published a new National Strategy for Disabled People 2022-27. The Strategy sets out how the Government will put in place the frameworks to ensure that the housing and support needs of disabled people are comprehensively addressed. The Housing Agency is preparing a detailed implementation plan for the Strategy.