Sir,– I recently heard a distressed mother being interviewed on RTÉ's Drivetime radio programme. She is a young mother with four children living in Crumlin, Dublin, for the past three years. She has been very happy there, has settled into the community and the children are attending good schools. Now she and her children have to vacate the house, leave their home, because the landlord is no longer willing to accept the amount of rent provided by the social services.
What ever happened to social housing? Social housing was provided in Ireland at a time when Ireland was a much poorer country.
If you look around the country today you can see social housing built in the 1930s, and governments through the years since then grant-aided social housing, particularly in Dublin and in the west of Ireland.
Having a home is central to the wellbeing of a family. Insecurity about housing is hugely stressful for parents and when they are stressed it undermines the emotional health of children and adolescents.
By depriving children of a permanent home and educational facilities, we are creating future problems for the child and adolescent services.
I can’t understand why our Government would hand over the responsibility for housing to the private sector. With no rent control, housing then becomes the unstable child of the markets. – Yours, etc,
Dr MÁIRÍN NÍ NUALLÁIN,
Psychiatrist
and Psychotherapist,
An Cheathrú Rua,
Co na Gaillimhe.