Tipperary County Council will have nearly €3¼ million to spend on the housing needs of older people and people with a disability this year.
The money will mean people can continue can remain living independently in their own homes for longer should they wish and will also facilitate early return from hospital.
Administrative Officer in the Housing Department of Tipperary County Council Jim Dillon says applications need to be accompanied by a letter from their GP which will then be assessed
“The priorities are signed off on by the applicants’ doctor – in most cases we then get them reassessed by our own Occupational Therapist here in the Council.”
“The beauty about the O.T is that when they visit the applicant in the home they see the actual living conditions whereas the doctor may not.”
“So the Occupational Therapist does a complete assessment on the home and determines then the priority based on that.”
Jim Dillon says Tipperary County Council will be seeking additional government funding for Housing Adaptation Grants later in the year.
He feels they will more than likely be able to draw down funds which haven’t been spent elsewhere.
“We would have been successful last year in securing €400,000 extra funding.”
“What we tend to do is we will over commit ourselves to a certain extent because I would be confident that we would probably be able to secure extra funding towards the end of the year again from un-allocated monies from other counties throughout the country.”
