Birr family 'waiting for ever' on social housing list
A BIRR FAMILY which has been on the social housing waiting list for a decade has told the Midland Tribune that their emergency accommodation is not fit for purpose and they are living in overcrowded, damp conditions.
Patrick and Michelle O'Brien and their seven children are living in Peter McVerry emergency accommodation in The Heritage behind Paddy Powers bookmakers on Main Street, a house which only has two bedrooms and one general room for the nine of them.
Statistics over many years have shown a terrible social housing waiting list in Offaly which has never significantly improved. A very high number of families have been on the list for years with no light at the end of the tunnel.
About 60,000 households nationwide are on social housing waiting lists, a high number which would be a lot worse if it wasn't for the HAP (Housing Assistance Payment) scheme which is a scheme operating between local authorities, private landlords and tenants.
The O'Brien family were homeless four years ago and spent a year living in B&B accommodation in Tullamore and Banagher. When they were homeless a Tusla social worker told the national press that Michelle is “an extremely dedicated and determined parent to her children.” Three and a half years ago the O'Briens were offered the Birr house by the Peter McVerry Trust.
The Peter McVerry house is well built and well appointed, but it is suffering from a bit of damp and mould (which the family pointed out to me) and it is far too small for their purposes. There also isn't a garden or yard of any sort and the O'Briens are worried about the danger posed to their children by traffic passing up and down right outside their home.
They told me that another two children (twins) are on the way, which will bring their number up to eleven.
“My six year old boy has autism,” said Michelle. “Five of our children, all boys, are sleeping in one bedroom, and Peter and myself and the other two children are sleeping in the other bedroom.”
They said they feel hard done by “because we know of people who were only on the social housing waiting list for two years and yet they were given social houses by the Council, but we have been on the waiting list for ten years and have received not one offer.”
She reiterated that she and Patrick are worried about the safety of their children because there is nowhere suitable to play.
The O'Briens were keen to stress that they are very grateful to the Peter McVerry Trust for the provision of the emergency accommodation. “We don't want to sound as if we are not thankful to them,” commented Michelle. “They are very good. Our issue is not with them. It's with the Council who don't seem able to provide a solution to our problem. We were told about a year ago that we might be able to get a social house in the country, but that fell through. We feel we could be stuck here for years with no solution to our problem.”