Decision to cease community home repair service "a bolt out of the blue"

Homefix, a social enterprise that provides a minor home repair service to people aged 65 and over in West and South Offaly, is to cease its service at the end of August.

Confirmation that the community service programme, which is funded by Pobal, will no longer operate was relayed to elected members at the monthly meeting of Offaly County Council this week.

In light of the development, Independent TD for Offaly Carol Nolan has written to the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Dara Calleary, to try and establish his openness in meeting local representatives following the announcement.

According to Deputy Nolan, the decision to cease Homefix operations has left many elderly locals reeling and deeply disappointed.

“This decision has come like a bolt out of the blue. Indeed, no indication was conveyed to me as a local TD that this decision was in the process of being made, nor were any difficulties flagged.

“If there are difficulties around funding then I think they really should have been highlighted sooner because this is a service that a lot of elderly people who come to my offices rely on. I am more than happy to try and facilitate a meeting with the Minister to see if we can resolve any outstanding issues, or even identify what the primary issues are.

“It would be a huge pity to lose this invaluable service without at least putting up a fight for its retention,” Deputy Nolan said.

Initially relaying details of the Homefix development at the local authority meeting, Cllr Audrey Hennessy Kennedy said that the service, which operated for 17 years, was not in a position to continue its service due to growing costs.

"I believe the service only receives 70% of its money from funding while the rest they have to raise themselves and with costs growing they can't maintain this.

"This was a vital service to the older persons within our local communities. Homefix provided personnel from community schemes who would help to maintain their properties and carry out minor household repairs. As elected members I am hopeful that we can all do what we can to help maintain this service and I am calling on our three Dáil representatives to address the matter further," Cllr Hennessy Kennedy said.

Cllr Peter Ormond said he was "shocked" and "disappointed" that the service would cease to be the end of August.

"This is a valuable service in our local communities with excellent staff and management. However, I have been informed that the service is no longer a feasible business model and the board of directors had to make this difficult decision. Despite this development I do believe that we should support Homefix in any way that we can. So many people will be affected by this decision and it is a service which we cannot afford to lose," Cllr Ormond said.