Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)

I am glad to hear the Minister is examining this issue. That there are difficulties in many counties with regard to the disabled person's grant was brought to our attention by the Irish Wheelchair Association last year. While we have managed in Limerick County Council to deal with the essential repairs grant reasonably well, special housing aid for the elderly is in crisis. It is a disgrace and it does not mean anything to most people. People have been joining the list for years and some of them died before anything was done. I know people who have been waiting 12 months to have a bath they can no longer use converted to a shower. What is the point in someone having to wait that long? I have a very elderly constituent with an incurable back injury who has been waiting for such a conversion for over 12 months. It is a simple but vital service for an elderly person. I do not have time to deal with all the issues involved, but I draw it to the Minister's attention.

Limerick County Council has built many houses in Rathkeale over the years which are now being bought for prices above their value for cash before being shut up. People who do not want to sell their houses see neighbours on the same estates being forced, intimidated or otherwise deciding to sell. Yesterday, a woman came to me and said she had five callers offering her cash for her house. She was told that if she did not sell her house at this time, they would buy it for half the value at a later stage. The woman in question tried to get a mortgage to build another house, but because she is not in full-time employment she cannot obtain one. She is selling her house because she is forced to. While she will earn €40,000, it is useless to her because she cannot buy a house with it. She will be homeless. Various Ministers, and the Taoiseach before the last election, promised to examine the difficulties in Rathkeale. I implore the Minister to ask his staff to examine this.

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