At this week’s meeting of Tralee municipal district, it was asserted that a family, including a three-year-old child with severe medical needs, was made homeless after Revenue forced their eviction.
Sinn Féin councillor Deirdre Ferris made the claim while seconding a motion from her party colleague, councillor Paul Daly, urging the council to honour its sale-agreed commitments under the Tenant in Situ Scheme.
Council management stated it had to withdraw from a small number of ongoing acquisitions under the scheme, as they no longer complied with updated eligibility criteria.
Cllr Daly said he was not happy with this response.
In backing Cllr Daly's motion, Cllr Ferris said that two sisters and their children, one of whom is a three-year-old with complex medical needs, suffering up to 100 seizures daily and requiring overnight nursing care three times a week, are now homeless due to the changes in the scheme.
She stated that the estate agents refused to accept the keys back from the family, as they had nowhere else to go.
She then alleged that the new owners of the property, the Office of the Revenue Commissioners, issued a legal letter instructing the estate agents to retrieve the keys immediately.
Cllr Ferris said that the family was subsequently split across different properties to facilitate the child’s overnight nursing care.
She added that Kerry County Council had originally agreed to purchase the property when the family's private landlord put it on the market; however, changes introduced by the Department of Housing to the Tenant in Situ Scheme led the council to withdrawing from the sale.
Cllr Ferris asserted that the family would not be in this situation had the council executive "fought tooth and nail with the Department to ensure the necessary acquisitions were completed".
She concluded, "I will never accept that a policy is more important than a person."
