Cllr Ken O'Flynn hits out at the Children's Ombudsman

Wednesday, 16 June 2021 08:12

An Independent City Councillor has hit out at the Children's Ombudsman over a recent report that condemned conditions at a halting site in Ballyvolane.

Ken O'Flynn says the fact that just two out of twenty offers of social housing for people living at Spring Lane halting site were accepted in the past year is proof that the report treated City Hall unfairly.

15 offers of social housing were refused and three were withdrawn by the local authority.

Cllr O'Flynn is asking residents at the halting site to form a delegation to meet with officials at City Hall following the revelation.

A recent 'No End In Site' from the Ombudsman for Children was severely critical of City Hall's running of the halting site.

The report found children living there suffered from respiratory problems at a higher rate than the general population and described conditions there as 'deplorable'.

Speaking to RedFM News, Cllr Ken O'Flynn claims representative groups are not effectively representing residents at the site.

"If you need to get out of an environment that is not good for you or your children, you will accept any offer from Cork City Council.

"By the way, the properties that were offered by Cork City Council were exemplary, ones that I could have allocated ten times over to people throughout the city and county who are contacting me in relation to housing.

"The Children's Ombudsman took three years to compile a report.

"There's something seriously wrong if it takes three years to compile a report on a site that Cork City Council is spending millions of Euro on."