COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, January 12, 2009

QUESTION NO.6

QUESTION: Councillor S. Crowe

To ask the Manager  in view of difficulties in the past, if a suitable premises has been identified to store lifts and other appliances for people with severe impairments that have been removed by this Council following the death of a tenant  in Council housing?

REPLY:

There is no ongoing requirement for the storage of the type of equipment mentioned in the question, as only two straight stair lifts (type most commonly used in Council housing stock) have been returned in the last four years and both of these were too old for restoration.  The Council did however have a request for a "throughfloor lift" to be removed from a house after the tenant's husband had died and identification of  a suitable tenant took some time but this matter has now been resolved to the satisfaction of all concerned.  There are very few of these type of lifts in the Council stock but should the situation arise in the future a similar effort would be made to ensure its reuse.

The provision of storage in most cases would not be cost effective as the equipment is generally long, bulky and heavy and would have to be stored in a groundfloor location, well insulated and heated in order to ensure it remained in a workable condition.   Also, it would not be cost effective in terms of removal, storage and re-fitting to store this type of equipment if more than 3 years old.  However, when a house/apartment becomes available which has special needs equipment installed, every effort is made to ensure the property is allocated to a tenant/s who require this type of equipment.