1ú Samhain 2001

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Student accommodation is `disgraceful'

Carrickmacross Sinn Fein Councillor Matt Carthy has called on the government and local authorities to enforce legislation relating to rented accommodation standards.  Students in particular, he claims, are living in sub-standard houses and flats in the main student centres.

Cllr. Carthy, himself a former student, said:

``Students are literally living in squalor in many parts of the country.  I have talked to constituents attending colleges and universities who are paying up to £80 a week to share houses and flats that are in a state of serious dis-repair and a risk to health and safety.  

``People are well aware of the great difficulty that students have in finding accommodation in the first place.  I myself have called for action in this regard.  Some landlords are exploiting this situation by offering sub-standard accommodation with little or no support for the tenants.

``Legislation is there to prevent this type of thing from happening and government and local authorities have a responsibility to ensure that it is enforced.  The failure to do so thus far is nothing short of a disgrace and indeed an insult to students and their parents.''

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