Only 5% of applicants get elderly heat funds
KILDARE GENERAL, 16 April 2002: by Bill Trapman. Just 10 applicants out of 200 in County Kildare have received funding for the Central Heating for the Elderly Scheme, announced last year to try and eliminate the annual 2,000 deaths of elderly people nationwide from ‘fuel poverty’.
The situation has been described as a ‘mean and cheap con job’ by Labour TD for Kildare North Emmet Stagg, who says that ‘deaths will occur’ because 95% of applicants will face another winter without heating.
Deputy Stagg said claims that the Government doesn’t have the funds to fully operate the scheme won’t wash in the face of it being able to spend 300 million euros on ‘spin doctors’ and providing a 10-year tax remission scheme for wealthy sportsmen.
©2002knn