Homeless for Christmas fear of Army families
They also reacted angrily to Defence Minister Michael Smith's comment that "this boil had to be lanced."
The families were supported yesterday by Opposition parties who said they had given sterling service to the State and were faced with the prospect of being dumped onto the streets.
But while the Department of Defence insisted hardship cases would be dealt with sympathetically, the minister was adamant that these houses were designed for serving members and that the situation had to be resolved.
He accepted that only 11 of the 54 families had the option of buying the houses as the others were within the barracks.
Ten of the soldiers involved had received deafness compensation payments some of up to ?50,000 while others had received voluntary early retirement payments.
But one woman told the Irish Independent that her mother had been on Kildare County Council's housing list for 19 years having applied when her husband, a former soldier, had deserted the family.
They had been told that as they had a house they were not a priority and with 3,500 on the list their chances of being housed now were even more remote.
This family said the impression was being given that they were too mean to purchase their home from the Army but they did not have this option as it wasn't on the market.
They were now sick at the prospect of Christmas without a home. A letter received a few weeks ago from the department contained a clear threat that they faced eviction.
Of the 80 current "overholders" 26 had indicated that they would buy their houses and 11 of the remaining 54 had been offered this option. The minister said that in most of these cases minimal rent of from ?2 to ?20 was being withheld from pensions while in 18 cases no payments were being made.
The department said it fully accepted that there were hardship cases but all families would be visited by officials and would have their circumstances fully investigated. The spokesman said this would be a lengthy process and there was no question of evictions taking place until it was over.
He also maintained there were situations where one, two or even three people in a house had incomes but yet they did not want to leave.
Labour and Fine Gael urged the minister to arrange alternative accommodation for these families.
Labour's TD for Kildare South, Jack Wall, said these were families of personnel who had served the state loyally, and who frequently put their lives at risk.
"Is the minister seriously intending to reward such loyalty by dumping them out on the side of the road?" he asked.
Fine Gael defence spokesman Dinny McGinley accused the minister of resorting to strong arm tactics. He urged him to liase with the Minister for Environment to arrange alternative accommodation.
"It is unbelievable that the minister is now adopting the tactic of eviction to 'lance the boil' as he has so intemperately stated."
- Marese McDonagh
