Older people must not be blamed for the housing crisis

WITH regard to the latest spin by our obviously inept Department of Housing about the elderly surrendering large family homes for smaller supported homes in developments specifically for older persons, I would like to bring the following to the attention of the voting public.

There are more than 6,000 older persons on the social housing list in Ireland. Some have been on the list for many years, some have medical priority, welfare priority or homeless priority. Dublin City Council currently has more than 1,500 older persons on its waiting list and nearly 1,000 on its transfer list.

Taking into account these statistics, exactly where will the Department of Housing find homes in supported communities for the elderly that it is now encouraging to give up their homes?

Will these new applicants be given priority over the elderly who have been patiently waiting for years for adequate housing? How fair is this? If the Department of Housing currently cannot offer supported housing to older persons already on its waiting list, then why is it making out it can offer this type of accommodation to those who surrender larger properties?

Please don’t blame older persons occupying larger properties for a problem that they didn’t create and aren’t exacerbating. Just build social housing, it’s as simple as that. Evelyn Harte

Address with editor