Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

When people apply to Cork City Council for housing they are given three areas or communities in which to specify their preference. If a person is offered a house within those communities and turns it down, that is one refusal. There are various reasons people might turn down an offer of housing. Their circumstances might change. For instance, a spouse or partner may have suffered ill health in the past six to 12 months. I have come across a case where somebody had a heart attack and turned down a housing offer because the property was on a hill with no bus service. They may return to the city council and change their area of preference but that is still deemed as one refusal on their record. When another offer is made they are left in a dilemma either to accept or have no hope of being rehoused. Two offers is therefore very limited. On the second offer, regardless of what type of property is being offered, the person must choose either to accept it or, in the case of Cork City Council, become ineligible for consideration for housing for up to two years. Under the old scheme, the welfare officer was also informed if a person was in receipt of rent allowance.

There are major issues involved. In Cork City Council the refusal rate for housing is running at 40%. People are not being offered suitable accommodation because the local authority does not have any such accommodation to meet people's needs. Half of Cork City Council's housing list comprises single people, men and women, who rarely receive offers of housing. When they do, it usually in substandard accommodation even by local authority standards. They have no choice but to refuse those offers. It is not because they do want to be housed but because the area is not suitable to meet their needs.

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