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In a statement, Cllr Richard Boyd Barrett has said the failure of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Co Council and the HSE to deal with a rat infestation affecting Council tenants in Dun Laoghaire was totally unacceptable.

Tenants along a row of Council houses on Desmond Ave in Central Dun Laoghaire have been plagued with rats for several weeks but measures taken by the Council and the HSE have failed to address the problem.

Tenants who have children in their homes are particularly terrified and already very young children have encountered rats jumping out of bins in the communal lane at the back of the row of Council houses.

In desperation, some tenants have even taken to trying to kill the rats by hand using skewers forks and shovels.

Cllr Boyd Barrett has contacted the Council to tell them that the measures taken to date to deal with the infestation have not worked and that immediate action is required.

Cllr Richard Boyd Barrett said:
“This situation is totally unacceptable. Council tenants should not have to put up with these intolerable conditions. The Council, as landlord, and the HSE, as the health and safety authority, have an obligation to sort this problem out immediately.

While no-one should have to put up with this, it is particularly worrying that children are encountering these rats and their safety is being put at risk. Young children – as young as 2 years old – have been in the lane, when rats jumped out from behind bins – terrifying them. Something has to be done about this straight away.