This article is from page 17 of the 2006-05-02 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 17 JPG
THE Irish Refugee Council (IRC) this week stated that asylum seekers cannot avail of local housing, and sounded a warning over the use of language on the issue.
Last week, Ennis’s Town Mayor, Frankie Neylon said that “there is no way in the world” that council housing should be provided pro rata to the town’s asylum seeker population.
Cllr Neylon (Ind) made his comment in response to figures showing that 40 per cent of the applicants on the council’s housing list are asylum seekers and refugees.
The council has since clarified that the number (282) referred to “foreign nationals” – this would include a sizeable proportion of refugees.
A spokeswoman said: “Nine foreign national families have been appointed to houses in the new council’s housing estate in Roslevan and four were appointed in 2005.
“All of the 282 qualified for housing. However, subsequent allocation of a house to a tenant depends on the level of need and availability of appropriate suitable accommodation. Policy on access to housing accommodation in relation to foreign nationals is determined at national level.
“The council does not determine such policy in this regard.”
The figures show that the numbers of foreign nationals on the housing list has increased by 90% in the past three years. In 2003, there were 148 foreign nationals on the 590-strong list.
Orla Ni Eili of the Irish Refugee Council commented, “Asylum seekers do not have the right to council housing. The foreign nationals on the council’s housing list would include people from Europe and the US.
“The Refugee Council is currently seeking clarification from the county council as to what stage someone on the list becomes an Irish citizen.
“Is it when someone gains an Irish passport? It is important that we find this out.”
Ms Ni Eili said that a number of refugees have availed of the council’s Shared Ownership Scheme.
“It is the experience of the Irish Refugee Council (IRC) that when refugees are on the housing list, it is a time for them when they are rebuilding their work and educational lives and wouldn’t be in high economic circumstances,” she said.
“When talking about these issues, it is important that we are very clear on the language we use.
“This is not about being politically correct, but there is a need to be accurate when we are talking about many different groupings of people.”
Separate figures provided by the council show that houses are not being allocated to foreign nationals on a proportional basis.
Last year, the council allocated just four homes to non-nationals out of a total of 46.