There is a severe lack of services available for people facing eviction or homelessness in Dublin 15, says local Sinn Fein councillor Angela Donnelly.
Donnelly was speaking following last week’s local area meeting where she asked the council how many people in Dublin 15, who have been issued with notices to quit, were staying in their accommodation beyond the given deadline.
Fingal County Council said that there are currently 88 households who have missed their deadline to vacate their accommodation.
“The Minister for Housing has directed Fingal County Council is to prepare a summary of the Social Housing Assessments carried out in its administrative area,” Donnelly said.
“HAP and RAS tenants will not be included in this assessment.
“The purpose of this is to provide the council with a comprehensive and up to date Assessment of the Housing Needs of our applicants.
“I cannot see how this is an up-to-date assessment.
“Many serious, urgent cases I receive relate to HAP tenants that have been given a notice to quit.
“We have 88 families with notices to quit currently.
“On September 1 we had 70 families and on 2nd June it was 50, that’s an increase of nearly 80 percent in just four months.”
Donnelly says that there is a lack of services accessible for people who have been given a notice to quit and they are often unsure of what help is available.
“We’ve all heard the absolute devastation from people who have been given a notice to quit and have no idea where they are going to go when they must vacate the properties, they are in.
“I had a mother of three young children asking me if they would be put out on the streets? We need to be able to use the same methodology that the department for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth of Ireland are using to build modular homes,” she says.
“We need to look at sites on which we can put temporary modular housing in the short term.
“Sites that may not be zoned RS but that can be used as an emergency interim measure.
“This is beyond an emergency and these 88 families don’t have months, some have only days or weeks before they are forced into homelessness, away from their families, friends, neighbours, schools and jobs.
“We know a lot of these families are being sent into the city centre into accommodation that is far from suitable for families with young children.”