Calls to urgently rehouse council tenants living in ‘life-threatening’ conditions
A group of council tenants in south Dublin have been living under “life-threatening conditions”, it has been claimed.
Independent councillor Hugh Lewis said some families living in Pearse Maisonettes in Sallynoggin have reported growing sick from mould and rat infestations.
Councillor Lewis rasied a motion for their urgent rehousing at an area committee meeting for Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council (DLRCC) this week.
“We have tenants suffering mentally and physically because of their living conditions,” he said.
“Engineers have inspected these homes and said it’s unacceptable for people to be living in them, we shouldn’t be allowing this to happen.”
He asked for a commitment from DLRCC to rehouse the tenants and offer the families more information.
People Before Profit (PBP) councillor Melissa Halpin said she had raised the issue a year ago, and while a small number of tenants had moved into new housing, many were still left behind.
“A council tenant now lives in the middle of five boarded-up houses around her – her son suffers from asthma, and they have letters from doctors and social workers pointing out the dangers of him living there,” she said.
“There are rats running around in the houses around them. This is not a way for people to live.
“I ask management to look into this situation and allocate people homes before winter sets in. You cannot develop the area when families like these are left behind.”
The maisonette style houses are self-contained homes with two floors. Families living in these properties have sent letters to the council signed by social workers, psychologists and therapists hoping to be prioritised for alternative housing.
“There are consequences of prioritising people for social housing, it means you can’t allocate other people in need,” councillor Lewis said.
“These tenants would not be on that list, but because their conditions are so poor, they need to be the priority.”
Aoife Flynn Kennedy, Senior Housing Professional for DLRCC, invited tenants to speak directly with council management as they continue to inspect properties.
She added that some tenants had not paid off years’ worth of arrears to the council.
“It is a council policy that we don’t move people who haven’t paid it off – some of the arrears in the area are significant. It goes up to €10,000, we’re not dealing with small amounts,” she said.
However, PBP councillor for Killiney-Shankill, Dave O’Keeffe said: “We can’t hold arrears against people in such terrible situations … when they are growing sick, and in some cases reporting life-threatening illnesses.
“We have to prioritise these people. Their children are sick, people are paying out of their own pockets to replace mattresses and sofas.
“They have repeated doctor’s visits, they’re taking days off work to stay with their kids who are getting sick because of the conditions we’re forcing them to live in.”
When asked for a timeline and the total cost of the redevelopment work, Ms Flynn Kennedy told councillors this information would not be available until closer to the new year.
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