Major concerns were raised at today’s Lifford/Stranorlar Municipal District meeting about mould growth in Council houses in Castlefinn.
Several residents at Emmet Park have reported dangerous amounts of mould growth in their houses to Council officials, with the problems occurring after new air to water systems were installed as part of retrofitting works.
Images provided to Donegal Daily by one of the affected residents shows severe mould building up, with the problem being prevalent from as far back as October of 2022.
The resident claimed that the issue was only being made worse by vents that had been installed by the Council to try and curtail the mould growth.
The issue was raised by several local Councillors today, after a Council visit to the affected houses recently left residents with more questions than answers.
Councillor Gary Doherty said that residents felt their concerns were not taken seriously, and that residents were told to simply clean the mould when it developed.
“When you see how quickly this mould grows and how much of it there is, to be told ‘ah that’s grand, it’ll not do you harm’ is simply not acceptable and it is something I do not accept,” Cllr Doherty told the meeting.
Cllr Doherty also stated that residents had faced issues with heating their homes with the new retrofitted units, and that even with heating being left on all day, their houses were still cold.
He also raised an issue with the way Council officials had communicated with him and other representatives regarding the matter, including an email in which the mould within the houses was referred to in quotation marks.
“I just feel that the way these people are being treated isn’t good enough, if I receive an email like I did on Friday with ‘Mould’ in quote marks, I am not going to be accepting that as a public representative.”
Cllr Doherty’s concerns were also shared by Cllr Martin Harley, who had also visited the affected houses recently.
Cllr Harley claimed that in one of the homes he had visited that had been affected by the severe mould, there was a young child with asthma who was resident there.
He also asked the Council to establish whether the mould issues had been seen in other homes that had been fitted with similar systems.
In response, a Council official stated that they “acted immediately” once they received the reports of mould from residents, and that it was not their intent to dismiss any of their concerns – and that the Council would be open to having follow-up viewings of the affected homes to observe progress on the issue.
Also according to the Council representative, an installation problem had been identified with air conditioning units in some of the homes affected, with the Council official stating that works had been carried out to rectify that last week.
The Council representative also stated that a survey may be carried out for Council tenants who are living in homes with similar retrofitting works across the county to identify similar problems if they are appearing.
