A woman living in emergency homeless accommodation with her four children claims a local authority has not adequately explained to her why it deferred her housing application.
Margaret McDonagh (43), who is a member of the Travelling community, says she has been on Cork City Council’s housing waiting list for 14 years.
She says she and her four minor sons have been homeless since August 2022 after the lease of her previous rental property at Eagle Valley, Wilton, Cork, was terminated as the landlord wanted to sell up.
Ms McDonagh has brought proceedings asking the High Court to overturn the council’s decision, of last January, to defer her application for social housing for a year.
In the decision, she alleges, the council said the deferral was being made as it was decided that letting to her “at this time would not be in the interests of good estate management”.
Such reasoning, it allegedly said, is permitted under the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act of 1997.
Ms McDonagh says she was “most distressed” by the development and is “completely at a loss” as to why her application was deferred.
Housing Assistance Payments
In correspondence with the Traveller Visibility Group, which was writing on behalf of Ms McDonagh, a council representative allegedly said “it would be my view” that the deferral came due to information arising during “pre-allocation checks” that would have determined that Ms McDonagh’s household would be a “cause for concern for Cork City Council”.
Ms McDonagh can continue to access supports such as the Housing Assistance Payment, the response allegedly continued.
On Monday, Mr Justice Charles Meenan granted permission for Ms McDonagh to pursue the orders she seeks. If the council contests the case, he said, it will most likely not be heard in the High Court before the one-year deferral period expires.
The council was not notified of the Monday application or present in court.
Ms McDonagh’s senior counsel, Michael Lynn, responded: “We have to take a stand and say to the council this is not adequate and you cannot keep doing this.”
Mr Lynn, appearing with barrister Aengus Ó Corráin, instructed by Thomas Coughlan & Co Solicitors, said the case was primarily about the council’s failure to give reasons for its decision.
Ms McDonagh’s action alleges the council erred in law in failing to comply with its duty to provide reasons for reaching its decision. She says it is not clear why the local authority considered that it was in the interests of good estate management to defer her application or what factors led to that conclusion.
The case will return to court next month.
