Tipperary County Council will continue to install replacement oil and gas boilers in its social homes with new models even though elderly people in private homes can no longer spend a Government grant on a new fossil fuel boiler.
This was the assurance councillors Kieran Bourke and David Dunne received when they questioned council management about the future of fossil fuel boilers in the county’s social housing at Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District’s latest monthly meeting.
Their query was prompted by a change to the Housing Aid for Older People Grant Scheme that central government allocates to assist older people living in poor housing conditions to carry out repairs and improvements to their properties.
Since January 1, you can no longer use the grant to buy a new oil or gas boiler for your home.
In view of this rule change, Cllr Kieran Bourke asked what the Council’s position was in relation to replacing oil and gas boilers in council homes.
He pointed out that the alternatives were very expensive to install and wondered if the Department of Housing was going to provide extra funding to the local authority if it could no longer install fossil fuel boilers?
Fellow Carrick-on-Suir Cllr David Dunne described the Government’s decision to stop funding the replacement of oil and gas boilers in the Housing Aid for Older People Grant as a “retrograde step”.
He said he had requested the Council’s Housing Strategic Policy Committee to write to the Housing Minister calling on him to review this change to the grant scheme's rules.
The Sinn Féin councillor contended that air-to-water heating systems were good in new buildings but not in older houses whose residents would rather a stove to heat their homes. He believed oil and gas boilers should continue to be a heating option for council residents.
Council Executive Engineer Paul Farrell responded that the Council was continuing to replace old oil and gas boilers in its housing with new models of the same type of boiler.
The Council housing maintenance programme didn’t have sufficient funding to upgrade heating systems in council homes to air-to-water pump systems, he explained.
Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie
Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.
Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.