KILDARE GENERAL, 22 January 2002: by Bill Trapman. Over half of Kildare County Council tenants may have been overchaged by Kildare County Council for some time, according to Cllr Emmet Stagg, who says the council has benefited to the tune of almost 189,000 euros per annum as a result.

This follows an investigation by the Council’s Finance Officer on the rents paid to the council where the only income of the tenant is Social Welfare and who have an adult dependent. The investigation was undertaken at Cllr Stagg’s instigation.

“It was found that over half of all Council tenants (or 663) were in that category and if they were assessed as separate adults with their own income (which they are entitled to) they would be on considerably lower rents,” Cllr Stagg says. “This amounted to overcharging of 6.35 euros per week per tenant or family.”

He says these families were ‘the poorest in our society’ and he has demanded that the Council now apply the Rents Scheme fairly and thereby reduce the weekly rents by 6.35 euros per week and make arrangements to refund the amounts overcharged.

“I am urging tenants who have an Adult Dependent (spouse, husband, wife or partner) and whose only income is Department of Social Welfare payments (Old Age Pension, Disability Benefit, Invalidity Pension, Unemployment Benefit, Supplementary Welfare Allowance etc) to apply for separate payment to the Department of Social Welfare and then seek a review of their Council rent,” he says.

“In the meantime, I expect the County Manager to move to remove the anomaly that has been discovered and to end the overcharging of the poorest people in the County.”

©2002knn

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