Richard Boyd Barrett: Tenants in Sally Noggin face mould, rodents
Richard Boyd Barrett raised the plight of council tenants in Sally Noggin, describing pervasive black mould, water damage and rodent infestations that are making residents — including young children — unwell. He urged urgent rehousing prioritisation and asked the government and the Minister for Housing to instruct local authorities to prioritise those affected, especially families with medical testimony of harm.
He said tenants have lived for years in council houses with young infants and children where mould covers the walls, water runs down the inside of the walls and there is wet rodent infestation. He noted the estate has been earmarked for redevelopment but tenants want out because people are getting pneumonia and being hospitalised.
He referenced the Rialto Action Group, saying it took a legal case against double city council a number of years ago because this type of condition was a breach of the European Social Charter and the group won the case. He presented the comparison to argue that tenants’ rights are being breached by the local authority.
He called for an instruction from the government and from the Minister for Housing that people living in these conditions be prioritised for rehousing, particularly where children are involved and where medical evidence shows they should not remain in their homes. He said the issue requires urgent action.
A respondent told the Dáil that the city council or local authority needs to take action, noting that in many local authorities rehousing for similar cases has happened. The respondent said regeneration schemes in Dublin have been slower than elsewhere and that more social housing has been built to facilitate rehousing people living in those conditions.
Conditions described in Sally Noggin
He said tenants have lived for years in council houses with young infants and children where mould covers the walls, water runs down the inside of the walls and there is wet rodent infestation. He noted the estate has been earmarked for redevelopment but tenants want out because people are getting pneumonia and being hospitalised.
Legal precedent cited
He referenced the Rialto Action Group, saying it took a legal case against double city council a number of years ago because this type of condition was a breach of the European Social Charter and the group won the case. He presented the comparison to argue that tenants’ rights are being breached by the local authority.
Calls for immediate government instruction
He called for an instruction from the government and from the Minister for Housing that people living in these conditions be prioritised for rehousing, particularly where children are involved and where medical evidence shows they should not remain in their homes. He said the issue requires urgent action.
Local authority responsibilities and progress
A respondent told the Dáil that the city council or local authority needs to take action, noting that in many local authorities rehousing for similar cases has happened. The respondent said regeneration schemes in Dublin have been slower than elsewhere and that more social housing has been built to facilitate rehousing people living in those conditions.
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Transcript
Taoiseach, I raised about a week ago the plight of tenants in Sally Noggin who are living in council houses for years with young infants and children where there is mould all over the walls all of the time, water running down the inside of the walls with wet rodent infestation and they are still being forced to live there. It's been earmarked for redevelopment but the point is the tenants want out of there because they are conditions that are dry, people are getting pneumonia, Sally Noggin, Sally Noggin. But since I raised that and they're still in there, still looking to get out, by the way the Rialto Action Group took legal case against double city council a number of years ago because this was a breach, this kind of conditions are a breach of the European Social Charter and they won the case and this is similar. So these people's rights are being breached by the local authority but since I raised that case in the Dáil last week and it was televised and so on, I have been inundated with people living in similar conditions of damp, black mould, rodent infestations in local authority housing. Now it is not good enough, at the very least, there should be an instruction from the government, from the Minister for Housing that such people will be prioritised to be rehoused and particularly where children are involved, where they are being hospitalised, they are having to go to doctors, they are getting medical testimony saying they should not be living in these conditions and yet they are still not being rehoused. Something needs to be done about this as a matter of urgency, Tisha. In terms of Deputy Boyd Barrett, again the city council or the local authority here needs to take action. I mean increasingly people are asking government to get into the minutiae or get into the workings of local councils. I mean they should be rehousing people who are living in, they should be rehousing people who are in the conditions that you've outlined. And in many local authorities across the country that has happened, but a lot of the regeneration schemes in Dublin seem to be very slow compared to other areas which have been more extensive and more focused. I don't know why that is in terms of some of the flat complexes and so on like that. They should have been refurbished a long time ago. I know, that's what I'm saying, but the council should do it. I mean there's been more social housing built now to facilitate rehousing people living in those conditions. And Thank you.