Why don't councillors talk as much about homelessness at meetings anymore?
For years, homelessness was a standing item on the agenda at most housing committee meetings. But, recently it hasn’t featured as often.
“They are trying to get rid of the Travellers and put them in settled houses,” says Kathleen Keenan. “If we integrate, our culture will be gone.”
Councillors at a recent meeting said they still have concerns about how well the council is protecting tenants from neighbours engaged in serious intimidation and drug dealing.
If the prices are higher than promised, “It will be a massive betrayal for the local community, for first-time buyers,” says Social Democrats Councillor Paul Mulville.
Some of the meetings to discuss the city’s housing delivery and services have moved to closed-door workshops too.
Some landlords and tenants who won tribunal cases were recorded as having lost, the report found.
“I am dealing with serious cases, people screaming and crying for houses,” says People Before Profit Councillor Hazel de Nortúin.
“We need to know where we can find this funding to make people’s living conditions decent – because it is our human rights,” says Gayle Cullen, chair of the Oliver Bond Residents Group.
“You’ve got to question the government’s resolve,” Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan says. “They don’t seem to be showing much resolve.”
“I think it’s a good idea,” says Darach Ó Séaghdha, an Irish language activist, podcaster and author. “It will stop the bad translations happening.”
These were among the issues Fingal county councillors discussed at a recent meeting.
Local authorities should ensure that all vulnerable people have someone to rely on when trying to navigate the process, says a solicitor.
The HSE is working with the Land Development Agency and Fingal County Council on a plan for how best to use extra land and buildings there.