Housing grants to be discussed at Monday's County Council meeting

The vexed question of proposed changes to housing adaptation grants will come before the monthly meeting of Mayo County Council on Monday in Castlebar.

Seven councillors, Damien Ryan, Michael Kilcoyne, Al McDonnell, Brendan Mulroy, Annie Mai Reape, Sean Carey and Richard Finn have posted a Notice of Motion placing the item on the agenda where it is sure to initiate healthy debate.

A letter was circulated last week to councillors highlighting the current situation regarding the housing grants and laying out plans for the rest of the year.

The letter from Director of Services, Tom Gilligan, said that Mayo County Council had adopted a budget of €3 million for housing adaptation grants in 2023 and almost 87% of that has already been committed. That leaves just €400,415.57 (13.35%) to be granted in the second half of the year.

This information was met with anger at last week's monthly meeting of Castlebar Municipal District meeting and is sure to be a hot topic of discussion at Monday's meeting when councillors from across the county will have their say.

There are three housing grant types that come within the remit of housing adaptation grants for older people and people with a disability and they are as follows: Housing Aid for Older People Grant (HAOPG); Housing Adaptation Grants for People with a Disability (HAG for People with a Disability); Mobility Aid Grants (MAG). In 2022, 532 of these grants were paid out in Mayo.