During the summer, Muintir na Tire advertised a new pilot scheme to install Carbon Monoxide alarms in the homes of elderly and vulnerable people in our communities. We had a great response and already almost 2,500 alarms have been distributed throughout the country. Here in the Eastern Region I received applications for in excess of 800 alarms. The second round is now open and will remain so until we have exhausted the supply of available alarms. So don’t delay please apply as soon as possible!

But why is this important anyway? Did you know that an average of 41 people a year die from fire and 6 from Carbon Monoxide poisoning, with many additional injuries. If you keep an eye on the national and local news you will see that many of these deaths happen in rural Ireland and where people are living alone or are vulnerable. But many of these deaths are preventable if working alarms are installed.

Whilst new homes are obliged to install Carbon Monoxide alarms due to building regulations, the same is not true of older homes.

So we can make a difference.

Muintir na Tíre has been allocated pilot funding by the Department of Rural and Community Development to install 4,000 Carbon Monoxide alarms in the homes of elderly and vulnerable persons across Ireland.

This programme is aimed at persons who do not have existing alarms and do not have the resources to install alarms themselves. It will be rolled out through Community Alert Groups and Muintir na Tire Community Councils. Other local community development groups, etc may also apply.

There will be no charge for the alarms or for installation.

Your group can apply for Carbon Monoxide (CO) alarms for residents in your areas and you can install them on a voluntary basis. They are battery powered alarms so installation is straightforward. To encourage a good take-up we have tried to make the application process as straightforward as possible.

Eligible groups can apply by completing the GROUP FORM attached including the list of names of proposed recipients and returning the completed application form to me at conor@muintir.ie or if neccessary to the postal address below as soon as possible.

The application process requires that an INDIVIDUAL FORM is retained by the group for all applicants and this needs to have two signatures on it. The first of these is for GDPR compliance and gives you permission to share their data with Muintir na Tire for the purposes of making the group application. The second signature is to confirm that the alarm has been installed and that they take responsibility for it thereafter. It is important to retain these forms safely and securely and they will be examined where any spot checks or audits take place.

As this is a pilot scheme there is a distinct possibility that not all demand can be met. Depending on that arising it is possible that only one alarm per household will be provided for or a limit per group may have to be put in place. Thus, I would strongly advise that you identify where the need is greatest and perhaps order your list to place those at the highest priority at the top of the list.

However, there is a value in highlighting the total number of alarms which you believe are required as we can take that number back to the Department to request extra alarms as necessary.

Alarms will be delivered via myself as appropriate once the decision about allocations is made. The time-frame for this will depend on the rate of response from groups but we hope this will be a reasonably prompt process.

Application forms are available below to download:

CO alarm group form

CO alarm individual form

Application details are also available on

www.muintir.ie/community-development/carbon-monoxide-alarms

Please feel free to contact me if you have any further queries. Thank you for your interest and assistance and I look forward to hearing from you

Regards,

Conor O’Leary

Conor O’Leary

Muintir na Tire Eastern Region Development Officer

Enterprise Centre, Kiltegan, Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow, W91 Y38W

Tel: 086-6000753

E-mail: conor@muintir.ie