Lame excuses - Council homes rejected

YESTERDAY’S meeting of Cork County Council, which discussed the reasons why applicants for council houses rejected offers, unfortunately brings to mind the Victorian habit of defining the poor as deserving or undeserving.

Some of the excuses for not accepting a house — a house in Cobh was rejected because the applicant felt she and her three children might get seasick looking out a window; another because there was not enough room in the garden for a trampoline, and yet another because there was a barking dog nearby — are offensive to the hard-won idea of social supports.

It is a fundamental, non-negotiable principle of this society that we look after the vulnerable and, even if we fail far too often in delivering on that obligation, these excuses are unacceptable nonsense. If a person is offered a council house, and unless they have a compelling reason for rejecting it, they must be moved to the end of the housing waiting list. These excuses are an affront to everyone who not only houses themselves, but who is expected, through taxes, to house those who cannot do that. Time to get real — and far tougher.