Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Everybody welcomes the package of supports as part of the delivery of Ireland’s residential retrofit programme but I suppose the devil is in the detail. As Deputy O’Rourke mentioned, the 80% scheme is very limited. We are effectively funding the well off in that we are giving wealthy people, in particular, 50% of their upgrade cost.

Just like homeowners, those renting from Dublin City Council would love the opportunity to have their homes insulated. Commitments were made years ago to insulate the flats at Glover Court but that never happened. As Members know, flats such as those at Glover Court and Rathmines Avenue, in addition to those in the vast majority of Dublin City Council flat complexes, are in desperate need of regeneration. After years of neglect, it is vital that residents living in public housing have a decent home to live in. Residents living in council-owned flats have been neglected for long enough. They have effectively been abandoned by the State. Residents in council-owned houses and flats have long dreamt of having their homes insulated to a modern standard. With the new scheme, they have been left behind once again. I have not heard any of the previous contributors mention flat complexes. The tenants are sceptical, which is understandable. The council’s long track record speaks for itself: it will not spend money to get rid of the rats and infestation and clean up the bin areas, nor will it spend money to remedy the dampness, water and sewage leaks, and broken windows and doors. Bin storage areas in flat complexes are mostly unacceptable and only encourage the gathering of rats and seagulls. To residents, having their homes insulated by the same landlord that has neglected them for years seems like a distant aspiration. The council has plans for insulation but it also had plans to fix the defects and dampness, but this never happened. Therefore, it is easy to understand why residents in flat complexes would be cynical and sceptical.

Having a well-insulated, warm, dry home seems like a faraway dream when there is overcrowding to the extent that it is impossible to keep dampness and condensation away. It is all very well discussing insulation when there are three or four children sharing a tiny boxroom and the mother or father is on the couch. Insulation is welcome if it happens. I have not heard a real commitment that flat complexes will be insulated properly, funded and prioritised. They have been abandoned and neglected for long enough.

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