This article is from page 78 of the 2008-10-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 78 JPG
COMMENTS that the methods used to allocate local authority housing are skewed in favour of immigrants do not necessarily paint a “true pic- ture of things’, according to one En- nis councillor.
Councillor Taiwo Matthew (Ind) claimed yesterday that many of the homes allocated to new families in Ennis had already been refused by others on the waiting list.
He said he had full confidence in the manner in which Ennis Town Council allocated housing.
He said “The executive has criteria they follow when they are giving out houses irrespective of whether they are migrants or not, in accordance with the provisions laid out”.
‘Most of the houses that are allo- cated are give to immigrants who are EU citizens and they are taken
up because they have already been rejected by indigenous people who have said that they don’t want to live WN Kon
“Saying that they are all given to immigrants and that people from Ennis are being rejected 1s not neces- sarily a true picture of things. It’s the same as saying immigrants are com- ing into Ennis and taking all the jobs and that is not true. My take is that I trust the council executive to abide by the procedures set down”’.
Cllr Matthew was commenting on issues raised at last Monday’s meet- ing of Ennis Town Councillor where some councillors expressed concern over issues relating to local authority housing lists.
Cllr Frankie Neylon said that he was aware of cases where people who had been on the housing list for a number of years had been passed over in favour of others who had
been on it a relatively short period OMB bb ater
He called for a review of the pro- cedures used to allocate housing and claimed, that, in some instances, 1m- migrants received preferential treat- ment.
Nigerian born Cllr Matthew said Ennis is now a multicultural com- munity where it was very easy for certain phrases or terminology to be mis-interpreted as meaning some- thing else.
‘Tam on the council and I don’t rep- resent one particular community or group of people. In my work I try to represent all the people of Ennis”… … | would be very careful of being misinterpreted, or miusunderstood, because people can accuse of saying things you didn’t mean,” added Cllr Matthew.