A SHANNON man who cannot use the upstairs part of his home because of severe breathing difficulties is pleading with the local authority to find him a bungalow where he can live with his daughter.
Noel O’Callaghan( 58) has been on the council housing list for more than ten years and his health has gone downhill to the extent that walking up the stairs is an ordeal.
“I have emphysema and I have to use a nebuliser four times a day,” he told the Limerick Post.
“I can’t sleep upstairs. I sleep on the couch. My daughter has the other room downstairs. We need a bungalow. I can’t manage here anymore and I could drop dead at any moment with this disease,” he said.
Noel has been hospitalised five times in the last year with his condition.
His problems are compounded by the fact that his landlord has said he needs to sell the home he is renting in Cronan Lawn in Shannon.
The former market trader went as far as writing to the Ombudsman when he could get no information about his status on the housing list.
“They had to write back to me then and told me I was seventh on the list for Shannon, third for a place in Newmarket-on-Fergus and sixth in Sixmilebridge.
“After that, five bungalows were awarded to new tenants in Shannon so I went back to check. I should have been second on the list but they told me I’m still seventh. I can’t understand how that can be?” said Noel.
“I just can’t seem to get anywhere with the council.”
In a statement to the Limerick Post a spokesman for Clare County Council said; “Mr O’Callaghan’s application is open and he will be considered along with the other eligible approved housing applicants, under the terms of the Social Housing Allocation Scheme, should a suitable property in Shannon arise.
“Other than the above, we are not in a position to comment on particulars regarding a social housing applicant for confidentiality reasons.”
