Waterford city and county has been neglected again when it comes to the provision of supplementary housing adaptation grants, according to a ‘horrified’ Fine Gael Senator Paudie Coffey.
Speaking on Monday, Senator Coffey queried why counties such as Kerry and Wexford received €1 million and €500,000 more respectively than Waterford.
When placing the local authorities on a league table of who got what when it comes to grant totals, Waterford County placed 22nd out of 37 local authorities with Waterford City, even more depressingly, placed 36th.
While the County Council received €1.5million, the City Council received only €451,230. Neither was in receipt of supplementary allocations.
As a fraction of the national cut, both Waterford jurisdictions received less than two per cent of the allocated monies.
And the Waterford totals pale somewhat when compared to the €4.25 million allocated to Tánaiste Mary Coughlan’s native Donegal. The County Council Taoiseach Brian Cowen’s Offaly received €1.3million.
“Why is Waterford being neglected again as these figures reflect?” queried Senator Coffey, who received a breakdown of the allocations after making a request to the Department of the Environment.
“What are our Fianna Fáil representatives doing or are they gone complacent again after last year’s general election?”
The grant, aimed at helping the most vulnerable to carry out essential home repairs on their homes, have been closed for the past two months in the city and county due to a lack of funding and increased demand.
Said Senator Coffey: “Minister Martin Cullen and Deputy Brendan Kenneally have to stand up for Waterford and demand a fairer share of money for the vulnerable living in the city and county.
“Fianna Fáil’s Government representatives in Waterford have to stand by the elderly and disabled in Waterford and demand, on their behalf, a fair share of the financial cake so that they receive the assistance they are entitled to.”
