COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

south dublin county council crest

MEETING OF TALLAGHT AREA COMMITTEE (1)

Monday, January 23, 2012

QUESTION NO. 6

QUESTION: Councillor C. King

 "To ask the Manager in terms of the window replacement programme - how many grade 5 houses are there currently graded in the Tallaght South and Central wards  and how many are currently awaiting inspection for grading and can the manager make a statement on the matter?"

REPLY:

A replacement programme was initiated two years because the windows in a large number of the Council housing stock were in very bad condition.  Tenants who had very bad windows were listed and following an inspection the windows were graded on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being those in the worst condition.  In order to address this problem the Council provided €1 million in 2009 budget and a further €1 million in the 2010 budget.  This funding was for replacement of windows/doors in the worst condition from this list.  This list is being added to each year and the list is Countywide and therefore grading is ongoing.

Windows and doors were replaced in 203 houses out of the 2009 allocation and 193 out of the 2010 funding.  The average replacement cost is €5,200 per house.

At the beginning of 2011 there were 698 applications on hand for new windows.  A further 403 were added during 2011 and 193 were completed leaving a potential balance of 908 to be replaced. It should be noted that windows are only replaced where the tenant/s' rent account is either clear or adhering to an agreement for a period of 6 months to clear the arrears.  Replacements are carried out countywide on date of application and rent account in order and available funding.  However, priority is given to senior citizens and those with special needs.

In the Tallaght Area, 93 were replaced in 2010, which represents 46% of the total completions (203) and 110 were replaced in 2011, which represents 57% of total completions (193).  There are 198 graded 5 in Tallaght Area (Tallaght South and Central) and 206 to be graded.