More funding needed for council house maintenance in Mayo

FUNDING for the maintenance of local authority homes is inadequate.

A south Mayo councillor has requested that a further allocation of monies be sought from the department to meet demand.

Councillor Patsy O'Brien said there is very little money left in the municipal districts expect for emergency repairs.

As chairman of the council's housing committee, he suggested this might be the first issue Alan Dillon deals with in his new role as a junior housing minister.

Councillor Gerry Murray highlighted two cases where people were left waiting for repairs. One elderly person was left without heat over a weekend; another person last week still hadn't had a piece of ply put up almost a week after reporting where a window was broken.

The council, he said, has a huge housing stock but very few maintenance staff, and more were needed.

With an ageing housing stock, Councillor John Caulfield stressed that more money needs to be put into maintenance.

There was some frustration voiced at the meeting about an audit on private landlords being conducted on behalf of the council and the criteria.

Councillor Michael Burke said he had no problem with strict conditions on landlords but some were OTT and driving people out of the business of renting.