Council officials accused of ‘distorting’ the figures
WHILE it was Niall McCabe’s last day at the helm of Wexford County Council’s housing department yesterday (Monday), he wasn’t given an easy ride by councillors as he was grilled on all aspects of the local authority’s policies at a special meeting on housing.
‘I’m finishing up one day too late,’ he joked, as he settled in for members questions, having delivered a presentation on the current state of affairs in housing.
While most members conceded that the housing officials are doing their best with the resources available to them, they weren’t beyond criticism either. Cllr Joe Sullivan accused Mr McCabe of presenting a ‘distorted figure’ of those who are currently on Wexford County Council’s housing list.
While a figure of 1,622 had been presented to the members as the current number of people on the local authority’s housing list, Cllr Sullivan asked if this was inclusive of those who are in private accommodation through the HAP (Housing Assistance Payment) scheme. He was told it was not and that HAP accounted for another 1,777 people, and that the total number seeking housing supports was actually 3,399.
‘It’s very disappointing that this isn’t the figure that was presented at the outset,’ Cllr Sullivan said. ‘I think the only way we can move forward is with full disclosure of the facts and figures. It’s disappointing that this figure had to come from a question.’
Mr McCabe replied: ‘ Nobody is hiding anything here. 1,777 are in receipt of social housing supports and for the most part are housed and happy.’
Cllr Lisa McDonald was extremely critical of the figures presented by the housing department and went in hard on the officials.
‘I’m also disappointed that the true figure for the housing list was not provided from the outset,’ she said. ‘Also, we’re looking at a document here that says nearly 300 units will be provided this year. Where are they? I’m aware of a number of issues surrounding the delivery of some of these units that means they won’t be anywhere near delivered on time.
The development in Bridgetown for example. We were told it would be delivered in April. Will it? Bearing in mind I already know the answer to this question.’
Mr McCabe then suggested if Cllr McDonald knew the answer, perhaps she could inform anyone to which she shot back: ‘I’m not going to play ducks and drakes here with you Niall. Just tell us about the project.’
Mr McCabe said that the Bridgetown project hadn’t commenced construction and that there had been ‘some problems’ and that the council had ‘sought to engage with the developer’.
Cllr McDonald later revealed that the hold-up was that ‘Irish Water is looking for €10k per house’ and she accused the head of housing of ‘not being straight’ with the members.
At this point Chairman Ger Carthy stepped in and said that ‘if the developer had their ducks in a row’ there wouldn’t be an issue and that ‘the problem is on the developer’s side’.
Speaking on the issue of rough sleepers during recent bad weather, Cllr McDonald said that the housing department had ‘failed abysmally’.
‘Councillors were never told that St Joseph’s (Community Centre) had been made available in the first place,’ she said. ‘Then why was it not made available for the horrible storm in the days that followed the cold weather? This current system is not fit for purpose.’
Mr McCabe said that, because it was a developing situation, it was difficult to keep members informed and noted that emergency accommodation for a maximum of 20 people was provided at St Joseph’s. The maximum that turned up, he said, was seven, noting: ‘I think we did a very good job’.
Other members criticised Cllr McDonald for her tone when interrogating Mr McCabe and the other officials, but concluding, she said: ‘ There’s a lot of self-congratulation going on here, when the reality is that 3,399 people are still on the housing list.’
Returning to the topic of homelessness later in the meeting, Cllr McDonald brought forward a motion stating that the current protocol for dealing with rough sleepers is ‘not fit for purpose’ and that the housing department needed to ‘put in place a step by step protocol to house rough sleepers in inclement weather, not just severe weather warnings’.
Director of Services Carolyne Godkin said she had ‘no problem’ with the motion, but added that the council was finding it extremely difficult to source suitable emergency accommodation following a serious fire at The Foggy Dew B&B.
‘We need to flick the humanity switch,’ Cllr McDonald said. ‘The system that was in place certainly didn’t work.’