'Beggers beyond belief - a disability house with a bath'

Demand for wetrooms in new disabled social homes built by housing bodies

Brand new disabled access social homes for Laois council tenants don't come with disabled access bathrooms, a councillor has revealed.

"It beggers beyond belief - a disability house with a bath" exclaimed Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley, of Portlaoise Municipal District, speaking at the October meeting of Laois County Council.

Since 2022, the council has spent over €2 million altering council homes for nearly 170 of its tenants who have disabilities or are elderly.

However new houses are still being built to rent out to new Laois tenants as fully accessible, but instead of a wetroom, they come with a bath.

"When the council is getting all these houses through housing bodies for people with disabilities, they have no wetrooms. So we are actually having to go in and modify the brand new houses.

"It beggers beyond belief how a contractor can bring in what they perceive as a disability house, with a bath in it. And someone with a disability who can't access a bath needs a wetroom.

I was told on previous occasions that whoever is negotiating with housing bodies will flag that up. It's important. If we are saying that these are properties for disabilities, they have to have that wetroom. Because that is burying a big hole in our grant system, where we're having to use the grants to adapt the houses," Cllr Dwane Stanley said.

Housing official Trevor Hennessy confirmed that there is an issue.

"The disability with the wetrooms, that is an issue. We are trying to address it particularly even with Part 5 units. What we are trying to do is anything that is ground floor or single storey, there will be a wetroom in. It is a work in progress but we are aware of that one," he said.

Over €6 million has also been granted since 2022 through the council to private homeowners to adapt their houses and make them more accessible for older and disabled people.