‘Archaic legislation’ forces Wexford woman with traumatic brain injury to downsize in order to be closer to her family
Wexford PeopleAn “archaic” piece of housing legislation is forcing a woman with a traumatic brain injury to downsize her home in order to be closer to her family. Raising the issue at the July meeting of Wexford County Council (WCC), Councillor John Dwyer said the woman in question had suffered a series of traumatic injuries which had forced her to give up her job.
As a result, the mother-of-two wished to move from her current three-bed council house to be nearer her family.
“Herself and her partner have two daughters, a 12-year-old and a newborn, and they want to transfer to an area where she can avail of the social supports from her family,” said the independent councillor.
“She needs this transfer so she can be near her parents and they can collect her daughter from school and so on.”
However, according to national guidelines, two children of the same sex under the age of 12 are expected to share the same bedroom, meaning this woman and her family can only be offered a two-bed property if they wish to transfer.
“WCC has written to her citing this piece of archaic legislation,” continued Cllr Dwyer. “It makes no sense. It shows a lack of compassion and humanity. I hope she has misinterpreted what WCC is doing to her.”
Confirming that this was national policy, acting director of services Eileen Morrissey said WCC’s housing department would review the case in this instance.