Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I was invited to attend a meeting with the membership of Kerry County Council earlier this week. The Kerry councillors, in common with their counterparts in local authorities throughout the country, have serious concerns about the savage cutbacks in housing grants. In County Kerry the allocation has been reduced by 53%. Councillors on all sides of the political divide in the county are working together in a positive way to encourage the Government to find alternative sources of funding to replace the lost allocation. One suggestion was that the cost of the coroner's service should revert to the Department of Justice and Equality. Members might be surprised to learn that the cost of this service is currently met by local authorities. In County Kerry, for instance, it is approximately €300,000 per year. That cost should more properly be met by the Department. Local authorities have nothing to do with coroners' inquests, yet they are footing the bill for the service. I ask the Leader to raise this matter with the Government with a view to effecting a better administration of the coroner's service. Any saving accruing to local authorities could provide badly needed funds to accommodate elderly people who are heavily dependent on housing grants in order to live in some degree of comfort.