The human rights of the residents of one of the largest local authority estates in the State “are clearly being breached”, the President of the Irish Human Rights Commission has said.
Maurice Manning was responding to a survey carried in the Dolphin House complex in south inner-city Dublin which found 45 per cent of adults and 42 per cent of children living there had respiratory problems.
Some 90 per cent of the adults surveyed by a community organisation, Rialto Rights in Action, were worried about their health because of the persistence of damp and sewage in their homes.
As well conducting the survey, key indicators have been monitored by residents and samples of mould and mildew gathered for examination.
Analysis carried out by NUI Maynooth’s biology department has shown the presence of Aspergillus fumigatus which can cause pulmonary disease in humans, most notably asthma and bronchitis.
An up-to-date mould analysis report found consistent or high levels of mould and the presence of Aspergillus fumigatus.
Of those surveyed, three-quarters of residents surveyed are living with damp, 64 per cent report mould and 84 per cent report that sewerage comes up through their sinks and baths.
Dolphin House is one of the biggest and most dilapidated local authority housing projects with 425 apartments.
It was to be the subject of regeneration plans to be completed after the St Michael’s Estate in Inchicore was complete, but plans have been put on hold because of the state of the economy.
Among those affected by the state of Dolphin House is mother-of-two Sinead Martin (29). She says she, her partner Paul Dempsey (32) and their two children Noel (8) and Aaron (4) have all been suffering from respiratory problems since they moved into their two bedroom apartment in Dolphin House three and a half years ago.
“I’m on two inhalers, my kids are on one each and my partner needs a nasal spray,” she said. “I’m terrified that my eldest fellow is missing out on so much school because of the dampness here,” she said.
The findings of the survey and the analysis were presented at a seminar in Dublin today.
Mr Manning said he was impressed at the manner in which residents had addressed their living conditions.
“There has been no rancour at these meetings. There’s been anger, which is entirely understandable. But you have gone about stating your case in a scientific and systematised way. The evidence you have gathered overwhelmingly supports your case.
“There is the International Convenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which sets out certain economic and social rights as human rights which the State is obliged to uphold, and which, looking at this case, Ireland is clearly in breach of, in its failure to tackle these issues and bring housing standards up to an acceptable standard.”
Professor Lorna Fox O’Mahony, Professor of Law at Durham University in Britain, and specialist in property and ’home’ law, said the link between poor housing and poor health had been established in the 19th century and remained as relevant today.
She said there was no absolute right to housing, but each State committed itself to the progressive realisation of adequate housing and the Rialto residents were exercising their right to demand adequate housing.
Though invited to the discussion, no-one from Dublin City Council attended today’s event.