TD wants to know why council gave house the all-clear in April
A TD whose office shares a wall with a ‘firetrap’ house in Crumlin that was ordered to be vacated by a court this week wants to know why an earlier investigation gave the property the all-clear. Independents 4 Change TD Joan Collins told the Irish Mail on Sunday that she and her staff had noticed how what used to be two shops suddenly had a lot of people coming in and out at all hours. Last December, she reported the address to council planning officers, as it appeared the shops had become a residential address. But officials closed the case in April 2017 saying everything was above board.
A Dublin City Council spokesman told the MoS yesterday that they only became aware of the property last month.
But a file seen by the MoS shows planning enforcement officers filed a report on the address after Ms Collins made her complaint last year.
The fire officers who investigated the property last Friday, after RTÉ’s report about the dangerous building, found the rear entrance to the property bricked up.
Leading onto a back alley, the exit would have been the only way out if a fire blocked the front door to the house.
Ms Collins said: ‘They [whoever is running the property] should be done for malicious, criminal damage to people.’
The fire service, according to Ms Collins, is very concerned that this kind of overcrowded, unsafe property is much more prevalent around Dublin city than people realise.