Council has no funds left for Mayo housing grants this year

FUNDING for housing grants for the elderly and people with disabilities in Mayo for works like bathroom adaptations and roof repairs has run out.

All funds allocated to Mayo County Council this year have been spent and no more applications will be processed until 2022.

Achill Councillor Paul McNamara, at a local area meeting this week, highlighted a case where an elderly lady was coming home from hospital but bathroom adaptation could not be done as no more inspections are taking place.

“If there is a 10-month window from January we need to be told of that,” he informed council management.

When application was made in October he was told all the money was gone for 2021. Councillors and applicants needed to be made aware of that, he said.

In response to his query, he was told that correspondence had been received from the housing office that the funding had reached its limit and they can't process any more applications.

Councillor McNamara said he didn't think it was good enough that they can't provide funding for 12 months of the year.

The allocation for the grants next year has been increased by €100,000.