A family in Killarney is unable to secure funding for a ceiling track hoist under Kerry County Council’s housing adaptation grant.
The council provides housing grants to people with disabilities and the elderly to make repairs or improvements to their homes.
Kerry TD Pa Daly raised the issue in the Dáil recently.
Sinn Féin TD PaDaly says local authorities no longer provide funding for the provision of ceiling track hoists since 2020, and people with disabilities and their carers are suffering as a result.
Deputy Daly says that six-year-old Alexis O'Mahony from Killarney has severe conditions including cerebral palsy, quadriplegia and a high risk of aspiration which makes her completely dependent for her daily care and requires two people to hoist her.
Alexis’s father, Steve, received a letter in September 2020 from the Department of Housing and Local Government which stated that local authories were instructed to exclude ceiling track hoists from housing adaptation grants, according to Deputy Daly.
He says that Alexis’s occupational therapist believes a hoist will improve the child's quality of care, decrease her needs and would improve the efficiency of lifting her.
Deputy Daly says families like the O'Mahonys are already struggling with the physical, mental and financial costs of care.
Speaking in the Dáil, Pa Daly called on the Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Heritage and Local Government, Malcom Noonan to reverse the decision and to allow funding for these works under local authority housing grants.
In response, Minister Noonan says that medical aids and devices requiring the assistance of someone specially trained in their use are not funded under the scheme.
He says that department officials met in March to discuss fixed track ceiling hoists and hope an agreement on funding will be reached over the coming months.
