Council puts pause on non-urgent housing grant applications

by Jessica Thompson

New non-urgent housing grant applications will not be accepted or funded until 2026, a meeting of Westmeath County Council has heard.

The council’s 2025 allocation of €2.4 million, of which 85% is funded nationally and 15% locally, is nearly exhausted. Director of Services for Housing Jackie Finney revealed that €2.1 million has already been committed, with just under €1 million actually paid out. A top-up of €941,000 has been requested from the Department, but no confirmation has yet been received.

Councillors expressed concerns surrounding “Priority 3” applications, typically involving non-urgent, but still necessary home adaptations. These have now been officially closed.

“Any Priority 3 applications we do receive, we'll be writing to them to let them know it won’t be considered until 2026,” said Ms Finney..

This led to sharp criticism, with Cllr Frankie Keena calling for immediate public communication on the matter.

“Not everyone comes through a local rep. People are downloading the forms online and sending them in. We need a press release to make this clear,” he said.

Others questioned whether any new applications should be accepted at all, with Cllr Tom Farrell arguing, “if there’s no money, should we be taking any more applications? All that’s going to end up is a pure mess.”

Cllr John Dolan proposed exploring alternative funding streams, especially for applicants like one 95-year-old woman who was approved for insulation through SEAI but could not proceed due to roof repair costs not being grant-covered.

“She can’t insulate her home now until she gets the roof done,” he said. “That’s priority 3. More money is needed in the budget.”

Meanwhile, Priority 1 (urgent medical needs) and Priority 2 (essential but less urgent needs) applications are still being accepted, though with serious delays.

Ms Maguire advised councillors to “temper expectations” with constituents, acknowledging that even approved Priority 2 applicants may not see works begin until 2026.

She confirmed that some counties have paused their schemes entirely, though Westmeath is continuing to receive applications for now.