'People want to stay in their own areas' - Calls for Govt funding to help older people downsize
Dundalk Cllr Robert Nash raised concerns with Tánaiste Simon Harris and called on the Government to release funding to Louth County Council.
Louth County Council have been told there is a need for more housing for senior citizens in the county.
Councillors received a presentation on the local authority's Age Friendly Strategy at their April meeting and raised concerns about the lack of opportunities for older people to downsize.
Dundalk councillor Robert Nash said he raised the issue with Tánaiste Simon Harris in a recent meeting.
He said rightsizing, in which older people are incentivised to move from their existing homes into more appropriately sized homes needs to be a national policy, and called for funding from central Government.
"People want to stay in their own areas. There’s no point offering people houses that are away from their services, away from their network."
"I had a meeting with the Tainaiste. Money needs to be released to the local authorities to buy people’s houses because we’re facing a crisis in housing. There’s a lot of solutions out there and it’s not just building more houses," he said.
Fianna Fáil councillor for Dundalk South Shane McGuinness said there is a lack of facilities for older people in the area.
"They don’t have opportunities to change the size of the houses and downsize."
"It's something I really want to highlight because there’s no options for older people living in big houses that are just not able to downsize, because they need to stay in their community and need to stay beside their family," he said.
Ardee councillor Pearse McGeough said he hears "on a daily basis" that there is a need for more housing for senior citizens.
"People need to live in their own communities and that’s where the plan should be put in place," he said.
Louth County Council's Age Friendly Strategy said: "The main challenge is a lack of adequate and affordable housing for older people in the county and limited housing options with regard to moving into appropriate housing for independent living, assisted living or special care living."