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

I agree that this affects all of us in the House. It is an important issue because, like Deputy Collins said, vulnerable people contact us. The reality is that management seems to be sitting on its hands and is content to allow this dispute to escalate. Staff levels are depleted - estate managers who work on the front line are not being replaced for months. That is the case in my constituency. The people to suffer are the residents in local authority housing and flat complexes in particular. It is the residents who are being made to suffer. The reality is that management appears to be sitting on its hands. It does not want a resolution to this particular dispute. Dublin City Council has also overseen some of the worst neglect I have ever witnessed. The conditions in which some of the tenants are living in local authority housing is appalling. The conditions are not acceptable and the neglect is ongoing. I have raised the issue in the House on numerous occasions of the shocking conditions in which residents are living and the neglect people in the south and north inner city are facing.

There is dampness in flats, raw sewage, gas and other leaks, electrical faults and rat infestations. The list goes on. As the Minister of State pointed out, it is neither he nor I who will be affected. Rather, it is the residents, who are facing more neglect. Management needs to be proactive on this matter, as does the Government. The Government cannot be seen as a bystander on this issue, leaving vulnerable city council tenants to face the current situation alone.

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