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Annual Report of the Ombudsman 2003

Chapter 2 - Tipperary Town Council - Disabled Persons Grant

The following case also involved a dispute over payment of a Disabled Persons Grant. I was not happy about an overly restrictive scheme which had been drawn up by Tipperary Town Council which did not fully reflect the rationale behind the statutory scheme. The Council accepted my arguments and paid the grant.

Tipperary Town Council refused a to pay a Disabled Persons Grant (DPG) for the installation of central heating. This was because the Council's Scheme specifically excluded the payment of a grant in respect of central heating unless the applicant was completely immobilised. The complainant was a tenant of the Tipperary Town Council and was suffering from Pulmonary Fibrosis. As part of her grant application she provided medical evidence to the Council pointing out that the fumes from her open fire were affecting her condition.

Article 4 of the Housing (Disabled Persons and Essential Repairs Grants) Regulations, 2001 provides that:

"a housing authority may pay a grant to a person for the provision of additional accommodation or the carrying out of works of adaptation that, in the opinion of the authority, are reasonably necessary for the purpose of rendering a house more suitable for the accommodation of a member of the household who is either

(a) physically handicapped and the works are necessary for his or her proper accommodation, or ......"

The Council's DPG Scheme was primarily based on the above Regulations. However, the Council's Scheme only allowed for the payment of a grant for central heating where the applicant was completely immobilised.

The use of the phrase "reasonably necessary" in the Regulations recognises that the emphasis is on works which are necessary, or which can reasonably be demonstrated to be necessary, to improve the quality of life of the disabled person.

My Office noted that the then Department of the Environment and Local Government circular letter which accompanied the Regulations stated that local authorities may assist in the provision of heating under the grant scheme. The circular letter provided that, in the case of an application for a DPG, solely in respect of the provision of a central heating system, the authority should exercise appropriate discretion taking into account the nature of the disability. It acknowledged that the payment of a grant in respect of such works should occur only in exceptional circumstances.

Having examined the background to this case, I tended to the view that the Council, by excluding the payment of a grant in respect of central heating, unless the applicant was completely immobilised, was fettering its discretion. I considered that the purpose of the grant is to undertake works which render a house more suitable for the accommodation of a person with a disability. In this particular case, I was reasonably satisfied that Pulmonary Fibrosis qualified as a disability and the complainant's grant application should have been processed as such. I took the view that the fact that the complainant was not completely immobilised should not exclude her from being medically assessed for grant eligibility purposes.

I felt that, in processing the grant application, the Council should have regard to a report from the Chief Medical Officer or an Occupational Therapist. Accordingly, I asked that the Council review its handling of the grant application. In response the Council arranged to have the grant application assessed by an Occupational Therapist and subsequently approved a grant, in the sum of €3,980, for the provision of the necessary central heating in the complainant's home.

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