Primetime - Housing disgrace (3rd May 2011)

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horusd

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Anyone see the Primetime report on the state of publically owned flats in Dublin? The scientist who reported on them said they were akin to refugee camps and unfit for human habitation. Sewerage coming up thro the taps and baths, terrible damp, moulds of all hues, and lots of sick kids and adults. The irony is these people are paying rent to Dublin County Council to live in these.

In fairness the Minister for housing (can't recall his name) said he was horrified by it and would take it up with the council. Now compare all this with preparations for the Queen & Obama's visit. We can employ lots of people to secure their safety for a few days, but we leave these poor people in abysmal squalor, and endanger their health. What a country.
 
I watched this programme also, Willie Penrose was the FG Minister on the show. I was shocked at the condition of some of the properties and the level of rent that some had to pay, while others can live in luxury for free.

It also raised a few questions for me.

1. Why have these people been left to live in these dreadful housing estates? Did they refuse to move with their neighbours? Did they refuse because of having to move areas? Uproot children from school, from friends and so on.

2. Is mould the sole contributor to their ill health? It obviously is a main contributor, but are there other factors that should be looked into? Is long term smoking also an issue? I am not associating people who are living in these Dublin City Council flats with smoking, but simply noting that respiratory illness can be caused by second hand smoke.

3. How can we let people live in these conditions, while properites lie empty all over the country. If an animal was found to be living in similar conditions, the owner would be prosecuted.
 
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Nothing was done about these properties during the Tiger when there was buckets of money about. Remember Fás, tribunals, junkets. There would be more people willing to help stranded whales on a beach or snails on a golf course than helping a child who is condemned to live in these conditions.
 

Is that not what our taxes are for?

Why should people pay through the nose in tax and then be expected to fork out from after-tax income to pay for something which the government should be funding?
 
I dont think its confined to council housing either..

If I remember correctly there was an programme on radio about a housing estate in clondalkin/Lucan..where there was a similar issue.

I remember driving by when those houses were for sale and there were queues of people trying to buy them,and it was blatantly obvious that the building wasn't good, there were clear gaps in the window frames!

Also I recall helping a single parent to be,out who had moved into a bedsit about seven years ago,and quite honestly the landlord should hang his head in shame,he was receiving about a hundred euro a week and it was an absolute disgrace..and we wonder why people dont rent instead of buy!
 
The programme never disclosed why some people had been rehoused in other areas and others had not. Why was this ? Is it a case of people refusing to move as has happened in the past in other areas and happens all the time with Traevellers who are offered housing.
 
The Prime Time folk should have read this AAM thread and they'd have learnt that is really no problem in any of these estates, and it's all the tenants' fault anyway.
 
horusd said:
In fairness the Minister for housing (can't recall his name) said he was horrified by it and would take it up with the council. .
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Well it's a pity the rules on standards for private rented accommodation doesn't apply to council property. Wouldn't that sort it out pronto.
 
Complainer said:
The Prime Time folk should have read this AAM thread and they'd have learnt that is really no problem in any of these estates, and it's all the tenants' fault anyway.
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And on that thread you suggested that people stay in estates that are injurious to their health and the health of their children because of community spirit. Which I call negligence on behalf of the parents of those children. There is plenty of good quality rental stock in Ireland for those that want it.
 
Complainer said:
The Prime Time folk should have read this AAM thread and they'd have learnt that is really no problem in any of these estates, and it's all the tenants' fault anyway.
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Unless the question is answered as to why some people were moved out and others were not one must assume that it IS in fact the tenants fault if they were offered an alternative and said no to it.
 
Complainer said:
Fixed that for ya now.
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You absolutely did not. The state will pay most of the bill, who cannot afford that. There are people on social welfare living in better houses than people working as some working people cannot afford what those on social welfare have. Where are you living.

Anyway as usual you are ignoring my points.
 
It was also pointed out that any able-bodied adult who puts his family's welfare first should be able to put their shoulder to the wheel get themselves out of this situation...perhaps not today or tomorrow, but certainly within 6 months. But then it's a lot easier to moan and blame someone else. As I've said many times, those mentally or physically imparied should receive very good accomodation from the State, once qualification is not open to abuse from those "on the sick". Finally it was alo highlighted in the previous thread that these are examples of public sector inefficiencies, but again you chose to ignore this.
 
truthseeker said:
Unless the question is answered as to why some people were moved out and others were not one must assume that it IS in fact the tenants fault if they were offered an alternative and said no to it.
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Why 'must' one assume that the tenants were offered an alternative?
 
truthseeker said:
Unless the question is answered as to why some people were moved out and others were not one must assume that it IS in fact the tenants fault if they were offered an alternative and said no to it.
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It would appear that "detenanting " was a Council policy, not a question of residents refusing to move. Altho residents of Dolphins barn flats refused this policy, and by the looks of it, just as well that they did. All of this fell thro with the collapse of PPP and now the Council says it has no money, so people are left in squalor and betwixt and between.

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In Ireland we seem to have a right-wing streak that generally insists people are responsible for their lot. Yet we put people in large estates, with little or no facilities, and then blame them for what happens. We do this over and over again. Darndale, Ballymun, estates in Limerick, Tallaght, Crumlin.. the list goes on. Hey presto we get lots of social problems and blame them. The prisons are full of people from these areas, but that's their fault.

I lived in Vienna, no such estates are allowed there. Social housing is mixed into all areas of the city, including the equivalents of Foxrock, Clontarf, Howth etc. Services like transport, creches, health, kids facilities, schools etc are all excellent. And guess what? Little or no social problems.

What we do doesn't work, and it costs more to fix, Limerick being an obvious case in point, and prisons being another. We now have the highest number of prisoners ever. And what's the source of our failed policies ? Right-wing ideas of the middle-classes. We offer free third level education, who benefits more? The middle classes. In America, tax breaks for the rich are funded by the middle & lower classes and the gaps are getting wider. We've got to change our failed ideas, real people's lives are affected by these stupid policies. No one should be living in 3rd world conditions in Ireland.
 
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