Dublin City Council\u2019s failure to ensure adequate living conditions in social housing is a detriment to the health of its residents, according to Social Democrats TDs Jen Cummins and Jennifer Whitmore.<\/p>\n
Deputy Cummins, who represents Dublin South-Central, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cEmmet Buildings is just one of dozens of examples in my constituency where the quality of social housing has been allowed to deteriorate to the point where residents\u2019 are suffering ill health as a result.<\/p>\n
\u201cOliver Bond, Basin Street, Dolphins Barn and Saint Teresa’s Gardens flats have all been neglected in terms of living standards, with urgent retrofitting of windows, doors and heating systems needed to ensure an appropriate standard of living for residents.<\/p>\n
\u201c81-year-old Anthony Doonan\u2019s harrowing story of repeated sickness from living in Emmet Buildings is sadly not a unique one – I\u2019ve received dozens of queries from my constituents suffering from the same dire conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government must now treat Dublin City Council\u2019s shortcomings as the crisis it has become – if the lack of retrofitting in flats is not urgently addressed, vulnerable residents will continue to suffer detrimental effects to their health.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lack of maintenance of flats is causing them to fall into extreme disrepair, to the degree that they often need to be knocked down and replaced – a completely unsustainable practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone deserves to live in a home without damp, mould and freezing conditions, yet 90% of residents in Emmet Buildings find themselves denied that right – the Department of Housing, Department of the Environment and DCC must place compassion at the heart of their agenda and move swiftly to rectify these substandard conditions.<\/p>\n
Deputy Whitmore, who\u2019s the party\u2019s environment spokesperson, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cDCC figures show that just 17% of flats under its remit have been retrofitted, but it\u2019s clear that this shortcoming is replicated in cities and towns across the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a critical and immediate need for deep retrofitting and energy upgrades in social housing, where inhumane living conditions are directly harming the health of residents, particularly the elderly, children, and those with chronic illnesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is morally indefensible that while the government talks the talk on climate targets, thousands of people are left to live in dangerous homes, a stark contradiction between policy and practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cLocal authorities must be held to account for their failure to uphold basic standards – housing neglect is a breach of duty.<\/p>\n
\u201cClimate action needs to be rooted in equity – a transition that leaves behind our most vulnerable is not a just transition. We need a people-first approach in which nobody is left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n
June 12th, 2025<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dublin City Council\u2019s failure to ensure adequate living conditions in social housing is a detriment to the health of its residents, according to Social Democrats TDs Jen Cummins and Jennifer Whitmore. Deputy Cummins, who represents Dublin South-Central, said: \u201cEmmet Buildings is just one of dozens of examples in my constituency where the quality of social […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12708,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[405,395,539,10,581,268,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate","category-council","category-energy","category-housing-crisis","category-jen-cummins","category-jennifer-whitmore","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n