Clare County Council considers new grant that could make a big difference for homeowners

Clare County Council have confirmed that they are looking into rolling out the Self Help Grant, an initiative which seeks to support local authority tenants who want to make improvements to their homes

In a Notice of Motion submitted by Fianna Fáil Councillor David Griffin, he asked the Council to look into this grant, with many not evening knowing existed, including Cllr Griffin himself until recently. 

Speaking at the May meeting of Clare County Council, he said, "I was dealing with an elderly lady who didn't have the physical nor the financial means to maintain the garden anymore, to look after the trees, look after any of the areas that they were personally responsible for," it was whilst dealing with this constituent that he uncovered the Self Help Grant. 

The grant, whilst currently not available in County Clare, is present in a small number of local authorities across the country. 

READ MORE: Can County Clare survive a zombie apocalypse? New data reveals surprising results

Explaining what it entails, Cllr Griffin continued, "It allows for a small grant amount anywhere from about €250 to €2,000 for a local authority tenant to maintain their own property. It's for stuff like replacing doors, windows, cleaning gutters, external painting, sheds, skips, replacing the presses, that kind of bread and butter stuff.

"Where there is national funds available for something like this, I think we should be looking at rolling it out here in Clare County Council as well," he concluded. 

Backing the motion was Fine Gael Councillor Mary Howard who said, "These are simple things that can make an awful lot of difference to how somebody lives their life and for small money, it's very, very important, so I'm delighted to second it." 

In a written reply to the Notice of Motion, Pádraig MacCormaic, A/Senior Executive Officer, said, "The Housing Department of Clare County Council acknowledges and welcomes receipt of this motion. I note the scheme is in operation in a small number of other LAs and we will review same with view to bringing forward report to Social Directorate SPC for further discussion.”