asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health if he is aware that there are over 100 houses completed and ready for occupation in the Dublin housing area of West Cabra, but refused to applicants in need of accommodation; if he will state the reason for keeping the houses empty, and whether, in view of the large number of families badly in need of housing, they will soon be made available for allocation.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Allocation of Dublin Houses.
I am informed that, in view of the difficulties experienced in finding suitable accommodation for persons rendered homeless on the occasion of the North Strand bombing, the holding of certain of the houses mentioned in the question to provide for persons rendered homeless by such incidents was under consideration by the corporation authorities. I think it will be generally agreed that in view not only of the difficulties referred to, but also the attacks made by certain Deputies in this House and elsewhere, the authorities were bound to give consideration to this problem, particularly in so far as premises in their own ownership were concerned. I now understand that it has been decided to let the houses in question, and that they have been allocated in the ordinary way.
Mr. Byrne
Is the Minister aware that at the present moment there are at least 20 houses in which the ceilings are down and the residents are suffering from hardships of bad weather and that houses have not yet been allocated to them? Will he make inquiries as to the cause of the delay?
The Deputy would seem to be asking a question which is not strictly ad rem to this one. I think if his question has any relevancy it relates to the occupants of houses in the North Strand area. The fact is that the corporation was holding these houses for residents of that type. The question which I answered was one urging that these houses should not be held for residents of that type but should be allocated otherwise.
Mr. Byrne
Is the Minister aware that there are still reports in the corporation about dangerous houses in Buckingham Street and Summerhill and in the North Strand. There are houses in the area of the North Strand in which the ceilings have been down for the last three months and the people have not been allocated alternative accommodation because of some reason which I do not know. I believe it is because the houses are being held over for some other emergency purpose, an emergency which may never arise. I think the effects of the last trouble should be remedied before preparations are made for the next emergency.
I understood that the purpose of the question which I have just answered was to compel the civic authorities to allocate these particular houses in the Cabra area otherwise than to people who had been dispossessed by reason of the recent bombing outrages. These houses have now been allocated in that form and I do not think that Deputy Byrne has any right to quarrel with that allocation.
Will the Minister point out in the question before the House — unless he wants to continue his playacting — where there is anything at all about the North Strand? The question is asked about families badly in need of housing. It does not exclude or include the North Strand any more than any other district.