Halawa and social housing
Senator Devine welcomed Ibrahim Halawa home and then raised the European finding that much Irish social housing is substandard and unfit for human habitation.
I join other Senators in welcoming Ibrahim Halawa home after four years of wrongful detention.
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I wish him, his family, his friends and his community the very best for the future.
On Monday, Ireland was found to be in violation of European laws.
The European Committee of Social Rights found that this violation was the sub-quality of much of our social housing stock. Ireland is in breach, therefore, of Article 16 of the European Social Charter, which is legally binding. In essence, it is housing that is unfit for human habitation. We all know from various clinics, as councillors or just from talking to people in our local areas, how desperate it is as a result of problems with damp, mould and sewage. In particular, the people in Dolphin House in Rialto have been quite vocal and brought this case to Europe. The council official saying it is probably condensation and advising the person to open the window will not cut it anymore after this ruling. Will the Leader invite the Minister to the House to discuss this and the correcting of the failures of this Government and previous Governments to take sufficient and timely measures to ensure the right to housing of an adequate standard? A significant number of families are involved. The Government is obliged by legislation to act with haste to take steps to address this violation. I would welcome a statement on the matter.
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As has been said, this weekend marks the fifth anniversary of the death of Savita Halappanavar. While I do not intend to deal with the eighth amendment here, as an Oireachtas committee is dealing with that issue, I ask you, a Chathaoirligh, to ask Senator Mullen to apologise for his recent comments in the media relating to the death of Savita Halappanavar.