Air Pollution (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2026-01-28
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Chris Andrews (SF), Labour Panel

The Department and the local authority are probably engaging with each other. However, they are not engaging with the residents who live in these flat complexes. Within minutes of here, we could walk to St. Andrew's Court, Leo Fitzgerald House, Macken Street, Macken Villas, Conway Court, Pearse House, Markiewicz House, Glovers Court, York Street or Mercer Street Upper. That encompasses thousands of residents and thousands of families living in conditions where there is no airtightness. The local authority does not seem to have any intention of heating, retrofitting or insulating flats or apartments for residents. In fact, Gallery Quay was only built 15 or 20 years ago. Residents had to be moved out at one stage because the construction was so poor. Even today, residents in Gallery Quay have a situation where the windows are swollen and do not fit the frame. There are pools of water and there are gusts of wind coming in. They do not see any of this. I know the Minister of State is particularly hard-working and committed. The difficulty is that the local authority is not talking to residents and does not have a plan in place for residents living in flat complexes. We are within a five-minute walk of any of those flat complexes. They are expected to live in conditions with dampness, mould, rot, rats and constant leaks. It is appalling. They have nothing to look forward to because if the door is damaged, they will come out and plane it and put a rubber strip on it but within a week or two it is back.
It is unacceptable that people living in flat complexes are neglected and forgotten about. Ultimately it comes down to the Government not pushing the local authorities as much as it should. None of us would want to live in these conditions and we would not accept them. I do not know how there is not rioting and revolution among people living in the flats. What they have to put up with is completely unacceptable. I accept that the Bill will not have any impact on them but something has to be done for residents in flat complexes because the local authorities are not doing anything.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-01-28/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:33+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-28