A Dublin man who claimed that Waterford City Council discriminated against him on gender grounds and disability in an application for social housing lost his case in the Circuit Court in Waterford.
Maurice Cleary, of 17 Wellington Road, Ballsbridge, was appealing against the decision of the Equality Tribunal which also found that he had not been discriminated against by the City Council. The court heard that he had also applied for social housing accommodation in County Waterford, Galway and Dublin.
In evidence Mr Cleary said that on July 14 last he was offered a house in Waterford City but was unable to view it prior to accepting the offer. Nobody in the private sector would take a house without first viewing it from the inside. He said he suffered from depression and a congenital back condition.
Waterford County Council offered him a brand new apartment and a ‘filthy shack’ but he turned down both in the last few months. When asked if he had also applied to other local authorities for housing he replied that he was entitled to apply to every Council in the country if he wished. He felt that the four local authorities to which he applied for a house all discriminated against him and he appealed to the Equal Status Tribunal in each case. He lost his appeal against Waterford County Council and was bringing the case to the High Court, he said.
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