Lack of emergency accommodation in Rosslare district forces family of five to move to bed and breakfast in Gorey
Wexford PeopleA family who suffered a house fire at their home in Rosslare Strand have been relocated to Gorey because of the lack of emergency accommodation in their area. Despite repeated calls from local councillors, there are no premises available for those who find themselves experiencing homelessness in the Rosslare Municipal District (RMD) with many working families being moved to the other end of the county as a result.
At the April meeting of the RMD, cathaoirleach Councillor Ger Carthy said one family faced lengthy commutes while they waited for their home to be renovated after a fire.
“This couple have three kids, they went to the council for help and were told to go to Gorey for emergency accommodation,” recounted Cllr Carthy. “The parents are working here (in Rosslare), the kids go school here, when are we going to get that emergency accommodation in our district? We need a house on standby, we have enough of them boarded up.
“Under no circumstances should a resident of the RMD have to go to Gorey for emergency accommodation."
Other tenants in the district require alternative accommodation for different, yet no less serious, reasons, as Cllr Aoife Rose O’Brien explained.
“There are two historic anti-social behaviour cases in our council estates where the relevant paperwork has been sitting on someone’s desk for five weeks,” she said. “One of the tenants in question is a cancer patient and she is facing harrassment and abuse on a daily basis, it has been going on for years. She can’t seem to get any guidance or support from the council. She’s at her wit’s end, she can’t sleep, she’s going through a life-changing experience and we need to support her.
“The other case involves an assault, again it’s an historic issue and has been going on for years. In instances where something has been going on for years the council has to step in and facilitate an immediate transfer. In both of these cases the guards have been involved and council staff have been informed.”
As the current chair of the Housing Strategic Policy Committee (SPC), Cllr Jim Codd was on hand to confim that a house to be used for emergency accommdation has “been identifed” in the RMD. But he feared that one house was not sufficient for the scale of the problem.
“We have families having to go to Gorey and bring their children to school back here, they’re living in a bed and breakfast, surely to god we can do better than this?”