Galway Bay fm newsroom - Concerns have been raised over an alleged staffing shortfall in the Housing Department at Galway City Council.
A meeting this week heard that some social housing tenants are living in atrocious conditions while reports of anti-social behavior are routinely being ignored.
The debate at City Hall began with a broad focus on the bleak state of housing supply in Galway City - with a focus on dwindling standards, rising rents, and high failure rates during inspections.
Attention soon turned to social housing offered by the local authority, an alleged serious lack of maintenance and anti-social behavior being allowed to run unchecked.
Councillor Mike Cubbard said people raising these issues are getting absolutely nowhere in most cases and asked if they should be directly told they're wasting their time.
Mayor Collette Connolly outlined how the Housing Department is presiding over many tenants living in atrocious conditions - including leaking windows and doors, mold, broken heating, rats and damp.
She described the local authority's maintenance team as "the twilight zone" and asked for acknowledgement that some houses are now not fit for purpose.
It was accepted by council staff that there's a significant backlog in relation to maintenance, largely due to Covid-19, which has limited the vast majority of works to emergency only.
They expressed hope the backlog can be cleared next year with the allocation of additional maintenance staff.
It was also indicated that the City Council is currently recruiting senior staff in other areas of the Housing Department, to enable quicker and more efficient responses to a range of tenancy matters, including anti-social behavior.
