The people who live in Oliver Bond House in Dublin’s south inner city have been treated appallingly by their landlord, which is the State. This might not have happened had Ireland a constitutional right to housing.

Built in 1936 on a former brewery site, the complex has 16 blocks and the average size of a flat is just 48sq m – meaning almost nine flats would fit on a standard basketball court. It has long suffered from dampness, mould and overcrowding, silverfish, rats and slugs. Poor indoor air quality has led to respiratory health issues in residents. Minister for housing James Browne has called the conditions “absolutely atrocious, totally unacceptable”.

Ireland’s neglect of local authority tenants has already been criticised by the European Committee of Social Rights. Following a collective case, in 2017 the committee found Ireland had failed to take “sufficient and timely measures” to ensure housing of an adequate standard for many families living in local authority housing across the country. It also raised the impact on tenants of delays and stalling of regeneration programmes, a practice known as slow violence.

[ Council’s Oliver Bond plans would have cost up to €700,000 per flat, housing committee toldOpens in new window ]

Dublin City Council’s improvement plan for Oliver Bond House was due to go for planning permission later this year with construction starting in 2028. The Department of Housing then announced it would no longer fund the €20 million redevelopment due to the loss of 28 flats, as smaller flats were amalgamated to fewer larger ones. It could not back such “a large reduction in homes during a housing........

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