Victims of institutional abuse should have priority to housing

Waterford City and County Council have backed a proposal which would prioritise victims of institutional abuse for housing allocation.

The proposal outlines that victims of mother and baby homes and Magdalene Laundries be given priority on social housing lists.

Last week, Taoiseach Micheal Martin issued an apology to victims on behalf of the state.

“As a country and as a government, we recognised that too many of our children were denied the love, care and security that should have been theirs. Abuse ruined their childhoods and was, and remains, an ever-present part of their adult lives, reminding them of a time when they were without support or protection" he said.

Speaking on the redress scheme, Seamus De Faoite, Director of Housing with Waterford Council, said last week: "We want to try recognising these people."

Local councillors supported the move, with Mayor Seamus Ryan saying, “These people have suffered enough and anything we can do to alleviate that, we should be doing.” 

Cllr Jason Murphy added, “These people were shunned from society, so the least we can do is prioritise them for housing. What's happening here today is a very progressive and positive move by Waterford City and County Council.” 

There were also some queries surrounding the redress, with Cllr Griffin saying that due to due the current allocation process, some people can become exempt from the scheme for very minor reasons.

“If there are circumstances where somebody falls outside the redress scheme for something minor, we shouldn’t penalise them and put another nail in their coffin after suffering terrible abuse in the past.”

Cllr Joeanne Bailey suggested similar, saying that applicants should be looked at on a case-by-case basis. 

More on this story is available HERE 

(Funded by the Local Democracy Scheme)