Cllr Lawes tabled a emergency motion for 25 people in Emergency accommodation, 13 adults and 12 children. He wanted the agreement of 20 councillors to have it placed on the agenda for the meeting. This is a normal procedure when a councillor considers that a matter is very urgent and wants the issue discussed. Councillors vote yay or nay as to whether it should be allowed on the agenda.
” Chief Executive Kieran Kehoe defended the councils position on the property in Navan. He said ”Last year there was a policy adopted in relation to standards of emergency accommodation provided by the council. It is a very critical part of our housing supply. We are very aware and proud of the work we do here in Co Meath. It is one of the best in the country in relation to the provision of housing. We are very proud of the way we do things for the most vulnerable in society. It is incumbent on me and my team and we are proud of the work we do. From previous discussions around this, what we did do and following the policy we have adopted we have put in place a strong regime in respect of inspections in emergency accommodation.
Without naming the actual location of the property itself it is inspected like any other property we have and I am very proud of that fact as well. We take our duty of care to these vulnerable people very seriously. We are satisfied with the standards of the property, so much so that the owner of the property has offered to have the property inspected. From my point of view the motion does not need to be carried out. We have confirmed that the property is insured.”
CATHAOIRLEACH Cllr Sarah Reilly read the motion.” I’m calling on MCC to immediately carry out a fire safety audit on all facilities used as emergency accommodation for homeless families and individuals and the council needs to certify that the appropriate insurance is in place.
CLLR LAWES addressing his fellow members outlined the seious issues he had noted. He said, we are trying to deal with the facts here. My own house was burned down in 2023 so I do take fire safety seriously. We were lucky to get away with our lives and no one seriously injured. He went on to say, in this house there’s five bedrooms upstairs with 15 people in them, there’s two rooms downstairs with three people and there’s two portacabins outside with 10 people. There’s a strain on the electricity in this house with 25 people, 25 mobile phones and all electrical devices that goes with a normal home. Twenty five people crammed into this house is by anyone’s terms overcrowding The chief exec says that it is considered a dwelling or residence. In my mind that’s absolute rubbish when you think that this house is divided into nine separate family units. What I did establish when I visited our own planning department, when you change the use of a property into a multiple-use property, you have to notify the council. This wasn’t notified to the council so that is contrary to any planning application.”
He als0 was of the the opinion the house may not be properly insured. MCC could be financially liable for putting people at risk in this property. The residents are not very happy being crammed in. Picture them trying to escape down the stairs out of the bedrooms. There’s one family with five of them in the one bedroom. Maybe the chief fire officer of MCC was led to believe that this house is a residence and doesn’t come under her jurisdiction but I believe it does. I’m asking for a safety audit to ensure that the most vulnerable people in our society are kept safe.”
CHIEF EXEC countered and said ” the council had experts trained in this area and I am not going to counteract that. I have very competent people telling me what the situation is. We take all these issues seriously.
CLLR LAWES remarked” The people who carry out these inspections are not qualified to carry out this kind of inspection.
The CATHAOIRLEACH Cllr Sarah Reilly ordered the roll call. The resulted, 13 votes in favour of the item going on the agenda, 19 votes against, four abstentions, four absent. The motion was not carried.
In AOB, Fianna Fail Cllr Sean Drew brought up the issue of the email Cllr Lawes had circulated on Monday morning, to fellow councillors, in relation to his motion on emergency accommodation. He said he was disappointed Cllr Lawes was not present to hear what he had to say. In light of all the information we have all been given. Taking into account what the councillor said and what the chief executive said in response ” I would ask, could we ensure that the particular building is fully compliant, with all necessary features, for the families and individuals who are living there.”
