Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I will keep it quite short. I thank the Chairman for calling me to speak. My question is solely directed at the representatives from Cork City Council. I will say hello to Ms Valerie O'Sullivan and to Mr. Pat Ledwidge, both of whom I know from back in the day. A report entitled "Investing in the Right to a Home: Housing, HAPs and Hubs" - a good alliteration - by the authors Dr. Rory Hearne and Dr. Mary Murphy from the sociology department in Maynooth University was published during the week. The authors warned that the so-called family hubs could become the next direct provision centres. I will not go into all the reasons they said that. It is self-evident in many respects. It backs up the approach that our party would take that it should be a case of homes, not hubs, and the provision of homes is the key central issue.

I was not here for the Cork City Council presentation and I apologise for that, but I made a point of reading the material that was submitted in advance last night. I noted a sentence which states: "We have identified premises suitable for the provision of a family hub near the city centre." I do not like these hubs in Dublin and I was hoping we would not see them in Cork. Can the witnesses give me some information on that? Are they in a position to give information about that premises the council has indicated is suitable for the provision of a family hub? I put my opposition to the hubs on the record of the committee.

My second question relates to people who have been made homeless by fire. Both Ms Valerie O'Sullivan and Mr. Pat Ledwidge will be aware of the fire that took place on the Wellington Road a few weeks ago. Twelve persons were affected by it, comprising seven households with some families among them. It was a serious fire with thick smoke billowing out. People had to be evacuated from their homes in the early hours of the morning of the fire and they presented as homeless. I will meet these residents in my constituency clinic tomorrow morning. According to reports, they went to the council and were referred by the council to the homeless persons unit. They were asked to source emergency accommodation for themselves. Some did that and some did not. I understand some of those residents ended up sleeping in a car. One of the families affected was a mother with five-week old twins. A dispute played its way out in the pages of the newspapers, where the new Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, said the local authority had a duty to provide temporary shelter but the representatives of Cork City Council stated they did not have a statutory duty because the fire department had not declared a major emergency. I seek clarification as to what the legal position is but I will state for the record that I believe these seven households should have been treated better either way. They should have received emergency accommodation provided by the local authority. It was a traumatic experience for these people. We must examine what happens in this State in the event of such an emergency. We should consider the provision of counselling services after a traumatic experience, with people having been burned out of their homes and made homeless. The representatives of Cork City Council should comment on that point, including whether they think we might do better for them in the weeks ahead, given that those people are still homeless in nearly all cases and accommodation will not be available to them for up to six months according to reports.