Waterford Council responds to 'hypocrisy' claim
Waterford City and County Council have stated that a 'medical professional' assess for applications for neurodivergent residents.
Waterford City and County Council have responded to claims of 'hypocrisy' over housing allocation for families with neurodivergent members.
The Council has stated that they 'do not carry out the medical assessment for neurodivergent applicants'.
The response comes after Councillor Eamon Quinlan (Fine Gael) claimed that the local authority were not properly prioritising families with autistic members, listing them as Priority 2 instead of Priority 1. He previously said: "To the best of my knowledge, the Council doesn’t employ doctors so I am very concerned about us overruling doctors and specialists who recommend a family should be rated as priority 1.
A spokesperson for Waterford Council has confirmed that a medical professional adjudicates based 'on priority, based on the information returned in completed HMD – Form 1 Disability and/or Medical Information Forms submitted to the Local Authority.'
The statement continued: "This process is carried out in line with Waterford City and County Council - Housing Allocation Scheme for Social Housing Supports which was prepared in accordance with Section 22 Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 as amended and the Social Housing Allocation Regulations, 2011 & The Social Housing Allocation (Amendment) Regulations 2016.
"This scheme was adopted by way of reserved function of the elected representatives of Waterford City and County Council at the Plenary meeting on the 8th February 2024.
