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

Carbon emissions, climate change, the climate action plan, COP26, and COP27 are undoubtedly very important to us all, but they mean very little to those living in Dublin City Council flat complexes. The Government talks about this scheme and that scheme, but none of them impact on residents living in Countess Markievicz House or Whitefriar Gardens. The Government regularly announces how many schemes it has provided to help households to reduce emissions, but the tenants in Bishop Street or Rathmines Avenue do not see or feel any benefit from all these announcements. They are living in neglect and have been neglected for too long.

I was in McDonagh House and Pearse House recently meeting with residents and, almost without exception, every flat had serious dampness and mould problems, the level of which has serious health impacts on young and old. One family had an elderly parent who was receiving dialysis three times per week. The seals are broken on the windows and the cost of heating is huge, and this is clearly not healthy for this gentleman. One parent in St. Andrews Court is living in completely overcrowded conditions and has a young child who has a cough that is more like a smoker's cough, which is caused by the mould. Climate measures have to make a difference to residents who have been neglected for years.

Carbon emissions, reductions and schemes seem to be for the wealthy. That is what so many residents of flat complexes are telling me. Why not put solar panels on the roof of flats? The climate action plan does not affect families living in flat complexes and we need a change for those families. People living in the flats in Pearse House and Mercer House have been forgotten about and neglected. There needs to be an urgency around ensuring proper, adequate, decent retrofitting for residents living in flat complexes. Let us see real change for those living in flats. Let us see real improvements in the conditions of those living in the flat complexes across Dublin city.

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