Three Waterford organisations deemed ‘ineligible’ for funding following Tycor fire
The fire, which broke out at the building on May 9, came as a devastating blow to a wide range of groups
Three Waterford organisations based at the Tycor Business Centre have been deemed ineligible for Government funding, a council meeting has heard.
The fire, which broke out at the building on May 9, came as a devastating blow to a wide range of businesses and community groups.
Although no one was injured, extensive damage was done to the building’s roof and inside.
In the days that followed, the Government announced a €750,000 support package for the organisations affected by the fire.
Waterford City and County Council has been tasked with assisting in the distribution of these funds.
Director of Services Ned Brennan provided an update on the support scheme at the June plenary meeting of Waterford City and County Council.
Mr Brennan said: “With regard to the financial support, at this point in time we have received 19 applications, of which 13 are coming in under enterprise and 6 are coming in under community.
“Of those 19, there were three that were ineligible so that leaves a total of 16 that are being processed at the moment.
“Out of those 16, nine have received the initial payment and six more have been processed and approved and will be paid in the next coming days.”
He went on to outline the process for the businesses that will require further funding going forward.
“With regards to the second part of that and the assessment for the larger amount of money, there is a process at the moment of appointing loss adjustor.
“We have to go through the procurement system because of the finance involved in it, so we would expect that by this day next week, we will have a loss adjuster appointed to carry out the second phase which is the assessment of the loss in relation to the applications.”
Mr Brennan also highlighted the work that the council is doing to assist the businesses who are looking for a new premises in the aftermath of the fire.
“I suppose the third part is providing support for the existing businesses.
“All businesses were provided with a mentor to assist them in preparing the financial applications and also to assist them in relation to sourcing alternative accommodation.
“On the economic development side, we have been examining premises that have been offered to us to determine their suitability for the businesses that are looking for a premises.”
Later in the meeting, Social Democrats councillor Mary Roche asked why three organisations had been deemed ineligible for funding.
In response, Mr Brennan said that the entities couldn’t prove that they had suffered any losses as a result of the fire.