No place in Thurles for homeless to present, council hears

Despite the motto of the town being Fleadh agus Failte, there is no place in Thurles for people to present as homeless, members of the Municipal District Council have been informed this week.

There are locations in Clonmel and Nenagh, but not Thurles, elected representatives heard ar the monthly meeting of the District and there is also a severe shortage of accommodation in the locality.

Representatives of the housing section of Tipperary County Council were in attendance at the meeting and they were told by Councillor Jim Ryan that the income threshold is not working and people are falling through the gap all the time. Many earn just above the limit and are therefore not considered for social housing, but they don’t earn enough to qualify for a mortgage.

Cllr Ryan said that many people are living with their parents and are in limbo over this. It is very frustrating for them, he said.
Cllr Sean Ryan was of a similar view and he also pointed to the lack of five bedroom homes for larger families - many have no prospect ot getting a swap and he encouraged the council to acquire more five bedroom homes.

Both councillors were informed that the income threshold in Tipperary is low in comparison to other neighbouring counties and this is something which has been raised with the Minister. The hope is to get the threshold increased and work is ongoing at departmental level on this issue.

Meanwhile Cllr Jim Ryan has described as ‘not good enough’ the response from the council to an infestation of rats to the home of a tenant - the rats are coming from an adjoining property which has been left in a deplorable state, he said.
“I have seen the video and it would make your skin crawl and send shivers down your spine. This tenant has the house in immaculate condition but the tenant is being besieged by rats because the adjoining householder has no bins and just allows rubbish to pile up all over the place.

“I could not believe what I was seeing when I was shown the video and I cannot believe that we have allowed this to happen. This started out as a small issue, but now there are up to thirty rats running about the place. The council response to this cry for help from a tenant is simply not good enough. This person is absolutely terrfied each and every day,” Cllr Ryan said.

Cllr Shane Lee supported Cllr Ryan and said that the person who keeps their property in decent condition is the person who is suffering most as a result of the actions of others in this particular care. He too urged the council to take action sooner rather than later, because this is a very serious environmental health issue, Cllr Lee said.

Council officials have undertaken to report the matter to the environmental health section of the local authority and to follow it up thereafter.