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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 18 Apr 2000

Vol. 518 No. 3

Written Answers. - Housing Aid for the Elderly.

Bernard Allen

Ceist:

198 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the reason the £700,000 allocated to the Southern Health Board to install heating free of charge for senior citizens cannot be spent on local authority tenants in spite of the fact that the local authorities are failing to provide central heating for a lot of elderly in local authority homes. [11672/00]

The particular funding allocated to the Southern Health Board is for the purpose of the special housing aid for the elderly scheme, which is administered by a task force under the aegis of my Department and operated by the health boards. This scheme provides assistance to improve the housing conditions of elderly persons living alone in unfit or insanitary conditions in private dwellings.

Typically, the work undertaken would be necessary repairs to make a dwelling habitable for the lifetime of the occupant, such as repairs to chimney or fireplace, the provision of water and sanitary facilities, the repair of windows or doors, roof repairs, the provision of food storage facilities, etc. and may extend to the provision of appropriate heating systems where found necessary to meet the needs of the elderly persons.

The management, maintenance and improvement of their rented dwellings is the responsibility of the local authority concerned, to be defrayed from their own resources. However, where capital funding is provided by my Department under the remedial works scheme to assist authorities to carry out major essential works to designated estates, the installation of central heating may form part of the works undertaken.

I have no plans to change the existing funding arrangements.

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