Minister of State advises people to reject social housing in ‘bad’ areas

A Fine Gael Minister of State has said he advises people in his Cork North-Central constituency against taking social housing offered to them in certain estates because they are in bad areas.

The remarks were made by Dara Murphy, the Minister of State for European Affairs, when he spoke at a meeting of the Fine Gael parliamentary party this week.

Mr Murphy, who represents Cork North-Central, did not specify the estates or areas he was referring to in his comments. His constituency covers areas of Cork city and county.

He did not return repeated requests for comments or clarifications but a number of people at the meeting confirmed Mr Murphy said he told constituents to reject houses in certain estates.

It is understood Mr Murphy said he would advise people against taking houses in such estates because they could later find it difficult to be transferred to another house, and could have to stay in the first estate for longer than anticipated.

The comments came in the middle of a parliamentary party meeting that went on for about 2½ hours. Fine Gael TDs and Senators were discussing crime, both nationally and in Dublin’s north inner city.

Social equality

They also discussed issues around social equality and it is understood Mr Murphy made his comments in that context. His contribution caused surprise among some others in the room, given the housing crisis across the country.

“There were raised eyebrows in the room,” said one TD. “It was a strange thing for someone like him to say. In a way, what he was saying made sense. But you don’t say it as a Government Minister.”

Other deputies, however, privately agreed with Mr Murphy’s sentiments even if they did not express them publicly.

Wexford TD Michael D'Arcy said an "underclass" existed in Ireland but people must not be left behind socially or economically.

“The conversation was primarily based around areas of social and economic deprivation,” Mr D’Arcy said, and was about areas across the country and not just Dublin’s north inner city which has been seriously affected by organised crime in recent months.

On using the word “underclass”, Mr D’Arcy said: “People might not like the word, I don’t like it myself, but it is a word that registers with people.”

He said the last government did not have the resources to adequately tackle serious social issues, but it was imperative the Fine Gael-Independent Coalition did so.

“You don’t have to wait four years to be told what’s going on by the CSO,” Mr D’Arcy said of the length of time between censuses. “Those of us who are politicians know what is going on in our constituencies.

“It is our biggest challenge. Fine Gael has been pigeonholed as the party for the big guy. The exact opposite is true for me. We should not abandon a portion of our citizens to complete deprivation”

At the same meeting, Mr D’Arcy said he had no confidence in Garda Commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan, but Taoiseach Enda Kenny said he had confidence in her.