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

I support this motion which outlines well the housing crisis and its impact on the people. The provision of social housing is a key part of the solution to the crisis. Social housing must be quality housing and when the State is a landlord it must be an exemplary one. This is not always the case and it is certainly not always the case in Cork city. I want to bring to the attention of the Dáil the case of the Noonan's Road flats in Cork city. There are 60 units in these flats. The vast majority are occupied by Cork City Council tenants. These tenants pay rent to the council every week. However, they have to put up with broken heating systems, crumbling balconies, chronic damp, black mould and mice and rat infestations. Many of these tenants are vulnerable people, some of whom are old or sick. They feel they have been abandoned and forgotten by the council. The negative psychosocial effects of this abandonment are very real.

Around the corner are a couple of key tourist locations. Tourists visiting Cork this summer will be impressed by St. Fin Barre's Cathedral and Elizabeth Fort. I wonder how many of them will be aware that around the corner, people are being forced to live in conditions not fit for human habitation. No doubt the tourists would be shocked. They might be even more shocked to discover the landlord is not a private, grasping individual but Cork City Council. The tourist attractions are well maintained and rightly so. However, the places where people are asked to live are abandoned and ignored. I say shame on Cork City Council.

I congratulate the tenants for calling out this neglect, for getting organised and for starting to campaign on this issue. They are demanding that Cork City Council implement a programme of risk assessment, housing inspections and emergency repairs. The council would do well to listen carefully and respond to their demands. If the Noonan's Road tenants are forced to step up their campaign and take stronger action, the council might find that there are many other neglected tenants across the city who might fall in behind them and put the council under very serious pressure on this issue.

See this speech in context