Independent Ireland Councillor Linda de Courcy has been informed by South Dublin County Council that they have been in contact with the owners of Citywest “to establish the extent of areas that may be subject to Building Control requirements”.
Councillor de Courcy had, as we have previously reported, asked SDCC if they would be taking enforcement proceedings against Citywest on the basis that the Council had already “confirmed [that] the Dept of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth did not comply with the legal requirement to notify SDCC of the change of use as outlined in SI 376/2023″.
She had pointed out that it was the responsibility of the Council to “to ensure all appropriate Health and Safety reviews have been done before the change of use is implemented”.
This follows a series of questions and research which confirmed that South Dublin County Council (SDCC) had not been notified of proposals for change of use to asylum accommodation in the cases of Citywest and Crooksling.
In its reply to Councillor de Courcy, the Council states that “If the accommodation which was originally provided for guests in the hotel is now being used to house people seeking international protection, then it is considered that a material change of use has not occurred, and therefore neither a fire safety certificate, disability access certificate or the submission of a commencement notice is required.”
However, it goes on to say that “if there are parts of the hotel building(s) which were not originally in residential use (e.g. ancillary offices, convention centre, leisure, etc) now being used for residential purposes by IPAS, then these areas would be subject to building control certificates and notices as a material change of use would have taken place.”
“Given the extensive size and range of development within the City West complex, and the repurposing of Citywest over recent years we are liaising with the owners to establish the extent of areas that may be subject to Building Control requirements.”
The question now, of course, is if the State did its due diligence prior to signing off on a deal which will cost the taxpayer €148.2 million to purchase a hotel that will be used for the foreseeable future as an IPAS centre?
Councillor de Courcy told Gript that she believes that there may be similar issues regarding other accommodation centres in the South Dublin area and that she is also pursuing those with the authority.
Regarding Citywest, Councillor de Courcy said: “I am pleased that the Council has responded to my queries and appears now to be properly investigating whether the relevant regulations regarding change of use have been complied with.”