Donegal County Councillor Gerry Mc Monagle has said he is very disappointed with the response that Donegal County Council has received from Housing Minister Darragh O Brien in relation to increased funding for their retrofitting programme.
He said Donegal County Council was awarded a grant of €1.2 million to help with retrofitting of doors and windows of their housing stock.
The council have approximately 5,500 social houses across the county.
Councillor Mc Monagle said the €1.2 million allocation will only help retrofit 45 of these houses which is said was “totally inadequate.”
He said “The Programme for Government obligation compels local authorities to move to a deeper level of retrofit in 2021. In his refusal to further fund our retrofit programme, Minister O Brien referenced that the fund does not fund “stand alone” measures such as the installation of “windows and doors”.
“I can see the sense in that, but in Donegal over these last three years we have insulated attics and walls of over three thousand of our houses. If this work is to mean anything then we need now to fit new doors and windows to complete the full retro fit and achieve the targets set by Government”
“I am amazed that Minister O Brien does not see this. The Minister is insisting that the management and maintenance of the local authority housing stock rests with each local authority and it is therefore a matter for Donegal County Council if they wish to fund the replacement of windows & doors from their own resources.”
The Sinn Fei councillor said he would like to ask the Minister where we are to get this funding, as Local Authorities have been underfunded by central government for decades.
He added “I would also like to ask the Minister where has all the intake from the Carbon Tax introduced by the Government gone? We here in Donegal, like elsewhere in the country are paying increase taxes through this Carbon Tax but it seems as usual we are not getting our fair share of the proceeds of this tax which was apparently put in place to help us fight climate change.
“If we are to meet the targets for energy efficiency set by Government then we must get the financial support needed. I will be asking my fellow councillors to support me in requesting a Cross Party Delegation to meet with Minister O Brien to discuss this matter further and to seek more funding from the Department to allow the Council to continue to roll out our retro-fitting programme across the county.”
