RESIDENTS OF PRIORY Hall, the apartment block that had to be evacuated due to fire safety concerns, say they will not pay the household charge.
The residents are opposed to paying the €100 tax for as long as they are not living in their own homes, which they had to move out of in October.
Some of the residents have taken to the Support the Priory Hall Residents Facebook page to make their feelings about the issue clear.
A spokesperson from the residents’ committee told TheJournal.ie that most residents are not opposed to the idea of the household charge, but refuse to pay it when they cannot live in their own homes.
The spokesperson said:
Ghost estates will be exempt from the tax and I think if Priory Hall isn’t classed as a ghost estate, I don’t know what is. We will be lobbying Minister Phil Hogan and local TDs and until such a time as we can move back in, we won’t be paying the charge.
The 240 residents who had to leave the 187 units in the block are to spend this Christmas in temporary accommodation, which the spokesperson described as “extremely difficult”.
I know from chatting to families, they are putting a brave face on things for the kids.
We’re facing into a difficult year.
Residents are concerned about who will provide their accommodation if Dublin City Council wins a Supreme Court appeal that would absolve it from paying the costs.
There is currently a major dispute over who should pay for housing for residents.
Dublin City Council says it does not have the funds to pay for alternative accommodation.
The residents’ spokesperson said people may have to approach their banks and say they can’t pay rent and their mortgage.
He said residents cannot pay for the work needed to bring the homes back up to a safe habitable standard.
I’ve paid for my house once – I can’t afford to pay it twice.
He added that residents have not had good communication from the Council and are unsure what will happen if the Council wins its appeal and no longer has to pay for their emergency accommodation.
The developer of the complex, Thomas McFeely, was sentenced in November to jail for three months and a fine of €1 million for contempt of court orders relating to Priory Hall.
McFeely was later granted a reprieve against the sentence.
Residents said earlier this week that they want to meet with Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan, to discuss their future – but last month he refused to meet them as he said he cannot interfere with individual cases.
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