Elderly ladies wait 16 years for boiler maintenance

Two elderly ladies living in Waterford have been waiting 16 years to get a boiler serviced by Waterford City & County Council. 

Local councillor Declan Clune (Independent) raised the issue at a local meeting of Portlaw/Kilmacthomas council this week. Cllr Clune also pleaded for additional maintenance resources in the district. 

“I want to bring up housing maintenance,” Cllr Clune told the local council representatives present.

“We don’t seem to have enough resources in the Comeragh district. We have three plumbers and anytime I have called about any kind of routine maintenance, it seems to only be emergencies they’re doing. We don’t seem to have any capacity for simple things like boiler services.

“I have two ladies waiting 16 years for a service on a boiler. When we talk about cost of living and energy efficiency, one of the things you think about first is having your boiler serviced to make sure it's efficient.

Cllr Clune added, “I think we need to get an extra plumber, especially for maintenance and nothing else. It's in everyone's interest. It's in the council's interest because it’s going to prevent breakdowns, which could lead to more emergencies, and it is obviously in the tenant’s interests in terms of cost."

In response to the query, Claire Hartley, Senior Executive Officer with Waterford City and County Council, said that waiting for such a length of time for maintenance is not the norm and that maintenance teams who operate in the district will be notified.

 “I’ll speak to you specifically about the 16-year wait, that would be an absolute outlier,” she told Cllr Clune.

She added, “With regard to maintenance, I will talk to our maintenance team about the resources in Comeragh and how that can be looked at.

“Resources for the maintenance team both in terms of finances and also staffing, yes, we would be absolutely delighted with more, but we’re working with the funding we have available to us."