Almost one-third of people on Louth’s social housing waiting list are non-Irish nationals, councillors in Dundalk were told this week.
The figures emerged during the September meeting of Dundalk Municipal District after Cllr. Shane McGuinness said he had requested a breakdown of the housing waiting list, including the number of Irish and non-Irish applicants.
Cllr. McGuinness said councillors are regularly questioned by members of the public about social housing and believed it was important for elected representatives to have accurate information available.
The figures provided, he explained, showed that 30pc on the waiting list were “non-Irish” but he called for a similar breakdown of the number of housing allocations.
Cllr. Marianne Butler warned of “dis-information” or “misinformation” circulating about the allocation of social housing.
She stressed that not every property that becomes available is allocated through the council’s Choice Based Letting (CBL) system and said there are a range of circumstances that must be taken into account.
Cllr Butler added that information provided by the council confirmed some allocations are made based on specialist needs, including disability requirements, mental health supports and other circumstances where applicants may be nominated for a particular property by social workers.
She said “misinformation” was contributing to misunderstandings about how homes are allocated and why some applicants may receive housing outside of the standard CBL system.
“I’ve become aware of rumours that houses are being allocated in an unfair way,” she said.
“But the public need to be made aware that there are specialised circumstances where allocations have to be made.”
“Every single person who has been allocated a house waited a considerable amount of time for that house,” said Cllr. Butler.
She said it wasn’t a case of “a mini-bus going around giving out houses”, which she added was the “dis-information” being circulated.
Cllr. Butler welcomed frequent updates from the council informing them of the breakdown of housing allocations.
A council spokesperson told the meeting that 60pc of available social housing is allocated through the CBL portal.
He said there were two large housing developments expected to come on stream in the Louth Village area shortly, and advised anyone who was on the list that they could change their area of preference if they were interested in bidding on a house there.
The meeting heard the allocation of houses is based on those who are longest on the waiting list and are eligible for social housing.
Cllr. Shane McGuinness added: “I don’t understand why I cannot get a clear breakdown of the Irish and non-Irish on the housing allocation list. I don’t see why I can’t get that.”
Responding, the spokesperson said: “Anyone who receives social housing support has qualified for those supports.”
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme