A council tenant in south Co Dublin says she is "trapped" in her house because she fears council workers will come and paint the outside of her house while she is not there.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council insists it must paint the walls and railings and varnish the window frames of Caroline McGeraghty's house at River Close, Killiney, as it has done to other houses in the estate.
Ms McGeraghty says she had the house painted last September, and she does not like the off-white colour the council plans to use.
"I get my house painted every two years a primrose yellow colour and it looks very well. Someone came out from the council two weeks ago and checked the house to see the quality of the work and he said it was grand. He said it did not need to be painted."
She says she was initially told her house would not have to be painted. However, the other houses on the estate have been painted in the past week and yesterday morning Ms McGeraghty received a registered letter from the council informing her that her house would have to be painted.
"I rang them about it, and the woman told me if I didn't like it I could get out of the house.
"If they do paint it I'll just paint it back. I just think it's a waste of money to repaint it when it doesn't need it. I don't like the off-white. It's too bright. One lash of rain and it will be filthy."
Ms McGeraghty, a single mother of one who does not work, said she saved for several months to pay €400 to paint the house her preferred colour.
"I love my home. Really, now I am trapped here because I'm afraid if I go out I'll come back and find them painting it."
Local campaigner Richard Boyd Barrett called on the council to "back away from this ridiculous stance". He called the insistence on painting the house "madness".
A spokeswoman for the council refused to comment, saying it was an individual client's case.
