Director of Services Michael Quinn said, “We would hope that as those issues progress within Dublin and Cork, then we will consider if modular homes are appropriate for Waterford. We are looking at potential sites for them and as soon as the opportunity comes us for us to engage with the Department (of the Environment), we will do so. There’s certainly enough demand in the city and county to justify considering it.”
He added the City & County Council is acquiring houses, but only when there is a specific need. “We have acquired 10 so far this year and there’s another four or five currently under negotiation, but we may not get the deals completed for these before the end of the year.”
Father Peter McVerry, who is in Waterford to speak about the issue of homelessness at Waterford’s IT Campus, noted in 2012, seven or eight families became homeless, but this year, an average of 73 families were becoming homeless each month. He said, “Homelessness is spiraling out of control. While it is most evident in urban areas, it will become an issue in every county in Ireland, as home repossessions begin to gather pace. Each home repossessed is potentially a household plunged into homelessness.”
Waterford’s Special Executive Officer Joe Sullivan said in 2015 118 homes have been refurbished and re-tenanted. He stated, “At any one time we will always have a number of houses that have become vacant and that are being refurbished for re-letting. Once a house becomes vacant it is immediately included in our refurbishment programme and new tenants (are) considered for them.” ##
(Photo credit: ireland–Reginald’s Tower in Waterford, Ireland)
