Family suffers plague of super-bedbugs

Giant, blood-sucking and apparently indestructible bedbugs are plaguing a family in Dublin.

The pests, each the size of a fingernail, have repeatedly bitten members of the family in Tallaght, soaking their bedsheets in so much blood they have had to be thrown away, said South Dublin county councillor Sean Crowe.

The insects continue to strike by night despite the efforts of pest controllers.

Mr Crowe - who refused to identify the victims - is now calling on South Dublin County Council to re-house the family members until they can sleep safely.

"No one appears to know where these insects have come from but I have been told they are a strain of super bedbug," said Mr Crowe, a Sinn Fein councillor.

"They grow up to the size of a fingernail and live off blood. The mother and two children, who live in the Rossfield Estate, have been repeatedly bitten and the bedclothes destroyed with bloodstains.

"Needless to say, they are most distressed and want this problem dealt with."

He added: "The top of the house was sprayed by pest control last week but this failed to eliminate the infestation. These are apparently a difficult insect to eradicate."

Mr Crowe has called on the health board to put the family in temporary accommodation while the house if fully fumigated.

He also wants to know whether the situation is an isolated incident or if the super-bugs are attacking other families too ashamed to come forward.

He also fears that the bugs might also spread infection.

"I know any of us would be disgusted to have to live with this problem, so I am calling on the authorities to act to sort this problem out as a matter of urgency," he said.