HUNDREDS OF elderly and disabled people could be held unnecessarily in hospitals and residential care because of a refusal by Dublin City Council to accept new applications for grants to convert their homes, it has been claimed.
The council said it cannot accept any more applications for the Housing Adaptation Grant Scheme for People with a Disability or the Mobility Aids Grant Scheme or the Housing Aid for Older People because it has already allocated its entire €12.5 million budget for 2009.
The adaptation grant, which provide funding of up to €30,000 for housing conversion, can be used for the installation of access ramps, stairlifts, downstairs toilet facilities, accessible bathrooms and extensions.
The mobility aid grant has a limit of €6,000 for similar but more minor works such as level access showers and grabrails.
The housing aid grant at a maximum of €10,500 covers structural repairs, such as rewiring, replacement of doors and windows, provision of water and sanitary services.
A spokesman for the council said it had not been able to increase its 2008 fund of €12.5 million in 2009, but it had received a huge increase in applications.
The council’s most recent figures show the number of applications increased from 2,202 in 2007 to 3,125 in 2008.
“The sheer volume of applications that continue to be lodged with the council means that we would not have sufficient financial resources to process any further applications this year,” he said.
Fine Gael deputy leader Richard Bruton said he accepted funding was limited but that vulnerable people had been left “in the lurch” by the council.
“Everyone understands that funding is limited in a recession. But instead of imposing a blanket ban on all new applications for these grants, the council should ensure that funding is still available for priority cases.”
Applications should continue to be accepted from people who could not leave hospital until their homes had been altered, Mr Bruton said.
More than 460 beds in Dublin hospitals were currently unavailable due to delayed discharge.
Many more disabled and elderly people were living in houses which were unsuitable to their needs, he added.
“The problem of delayed discharge, whereby patients cannot be released to their homes or to convalescent families, is already a serious problem with Dublin’s northside hospitals, where up to one in five beds are occupied by patients who could be discharged,” according to Mr Bruton.
