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

This is an issue I raise regularly. The situation does not seem to be getting any better. If anything, things seem to be getting worse. People living in flat complexes in the inner city are genuinely frustrated in respect of having been forgotten. They feel, and the evidence suggests they are right, that Dublin City Council has neglected them for too long, as has the Government. They are living in conditions that are just not acceptable. These are not all old flat complexes. Many of the newer flat complexes have serious issues as well. Not too far from here, in York Street, is a flat complex that is only 12 years old. Around Christmas time, the residents of an entire block had to be moved out because of a water leak that occurred due to inadequate maintenance. They had to leave that flat complex during Covid-19 and it was traumatic for them. Therefore, there appear to be serious maintenance issues in all the flat complexes across the city. There certainly are in those premises in Dublin Bay South.

The Glovers Court complex is at the other end of the old York Street. An email was recently sent to all the councillors and Deputies in Dublin Bay South. I will refer to it because it expresses how the people living there feel and how the vast majority of people living in flat complexes feel. The email states that the tenants in Glovers Court are tired of the broken promises and regeneration promises that have been made to them for a number of years and are tired of being told it is in progress and the application has been submitted. The email goes on to state that this is not good enough and that the tenants in Glovers Court want to know what local Deputies and councillors are doing for them, other than emailing the council, which then makes promises to the tenants that are broken. The email continues by stating that the residents are tired of carrying their children over human faeces and urine every day; tired of having to constantly to pay €40 to €60 a week for gas to keep their flats warm; tired of constantly bleaching their walls to get rid of the damp and mould; tired of carrying heavy bottles of water up the stairs because they cannot drink their water because it is contaminated; tired of bringing their children to doctors and hospitals because they are constantly sick because it is colder inside the flats than outside; tired of being woken up at night by the antisocial behaviour in the complex; and tired of being woken by fire sirens because someone has set fire to a flat. The email further continues by stating that a couple of weeks ago there was a fire in the complex and Dublin Fire Brigade could not access it because people were parked there like it was a free-for-all.

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