Mayo councillor proposes completion certificate to ease vacant homes grant draw-down

A CERTIFICATE of completion method should be employed to simplify the drawing down of grants under the Croí Conaithe scheme.

The paperwork under the current system is 'huge', with one elected member of Mayo County Council describing scanning in receipts over a three-week period in the evenings.

A proposal to have draw-down on a certification basis, with random audits of receipts, was proposed by Councillor Peter Flynn at the monthly meeting of Mayo County Council.

And Councillor Donna Sheridan – 'who was that person scanning in receipts' – supported him, saying the amount of paperwork involved in getting the grant is 'huge'.

To date in Mayo, 739 Croí Conaithe grants have been approved, with 224 paid out and another 103 applications in progress.

Councillor Flynn said the process of claiming the grant has evolved into a 'small industry', with an amount of time and effort having to go into it, producing every receipt, being it €5 or €105,000.

He proposed they write to the department and the county's five TDs to amend the scheme so it can be drawn down on a certificate basis when works are complete.

People would be required to retain their receipts for random checks.

Councillor Flynn said they needed a system that encouraged people to get the work done but without having to have a small accountancy system in the background.

* Funded under the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme