Rights hearing on flats complex

The State is breaching a UN convention by failing to provide adequate housing for residents of south inner city flat complex Dolphin House, the president of the Irish Human Rights Commission has said.

Dr Maurice Manning was speaking at a "human rights hearing" on the conditions in Dolphin House which was shown evidence of sewage in sinks and baths and mould covering entire walls of bedrooms.

The hearing was also presented with the results of tests carried out by NUI Maynooth's biology department which found the level of fungal contamination in the flats represented a significant threat to health and could prove fatal for those with lung disorders.

Residents of the 1950s flat complex presented videos of the interiors of their homes which showed black mould on walls curtain and clothes, sinks and baths filled with sewage and water dripping down walls and windows.

The event, which was chaired by RTÉ broadcaster Joe Duffy heard residents had to store their clothes in plastic bags to try to stop them from going mouldy, that the pressure of back flowing sewage forces out bath plugs and adults and children had a number of medical conditions associated with their environment including asthma, respiratory infections, skin infections and stomach bugs.

Recent tests in a number of flats carried out by NUI Maynooth microbiologist Dr Kevin Kavanagh found evidence of Aspergillus fumigatus a fungus known to cause a variety of lung disease in humans.

"The fungal contamination evident in these houses is far greater than I have ever recorded in domestic dwellings [and] is a significant threat to the health of the occupants," he said.

Dr Manning said these living conditions clearly put the State, and its agent Dublin City Council, in breach of the UN Convention on Economic Social and Cultural Rights.

"That convention says there is a right to adequate housing...The evidence that has been presented here to my mind certainly represents a breach of the criteria laid down by the UN in relation to what constitutes adequate housing."

The council or State could play two "get out of jail cards," he said. They could claim they had inadequate resources or that the work was being done through "progressive realisation," with the council working towards providing adequate housing.

The council failed to meet both these tests in that they had the money to fix the problems in Dolphin House during the boom and showed no progress in fixing the sewage difficulties which had persisted for 20 years.

Dr Padraic Kenna, law lecturer at NUI Galway, said the conditions the State allowed Dolphin House residents to live in showed an "absolute disrespect for human dignity".

In a statement the council said it had paid for consultants to work with the community to come up with regeneration options "despite the fact that lack of money is an issue and is likely to be an issue for the foreseeable future".