Rory Hearne challenges council rent rises over mould and damp
Rory Hearne challenges council rent rises over mould and damp.
The Tánaiste said the forthcoming Budget would focus on child poverty and targeted measures for families and children most at risk. He referred to the fuel allowance and said further measures would be announced in the Budget.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
Count Corla, Tánaiste, you're probably well aware that there are thousands of council tenants across this country living in absolutely scandalous conditions of mould and damp. In my own constituency I've been working with a number of very very harrowing cases where I've went and visited homes and seen mould and damp in windows, bedrooms and the impact on children and babies. Tánaiste, how is it right and fair that council tenants living in mould and damp in houses that the state is responsible for are now being charged higher rents in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis because your government has failed to fund council sufficiently? Tánaiste, 40% of council tenants are in poverty after they pay their rent. 40%. That is five times the rate of homeowners. How can they afford more? Tánaiste, is it fair that children are left living in mould and devastating impacts on their health impacts? Will you make a real move on the cost-of-living crisis for these people and will you give councils the funding required for maintenance so they don't have to increase rents on these people? So I see two, you've linked two issues. I see them as somewhat separate. I mean the idea that anyone's living in a home owned by the state in relation with mould and damp and children there and the likes is not an acceptable situation. I fully agree with that. If you want to provide me with the information, which I know you will, I'm happy to pursue that with the Minister for Housing and also with the local authority too. Local authorities do have a duty of care to their own tenants do and just like governments at a national level have to manage their budgets, so too do local governments as well. In relation to the budget in general, there will be a focus on child poverty. I know and acknowledge you were at the Child Poverty and Wellbeing Summit in your own constituency in recent weeks. I think there's a number of targeted measures that we need to take to help families and children most at risk of poverty. The fuel allowance being one such payment which opens on Monday, but there will be a number of other measures in the budget in 12 days' time.
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
