GDPR rules block help reaching vulnerable people in Kildare

General Data Protection Regulation is getting in the way of help being provided to vulnerable people.

Fianna Fail councillor Suzanne Doyle said that her experience of the legislation is that it sometimes can be a hindrance to people getting help.

She Wants Kildare County Council to “examine means to implement a system that creates a database of vulnerable tenants, that would be given priority call out and systematic welfare calls.”

However KCC says it employs five tenant liaison officers and two social workers who engage with vulnerable tenants on an ongoing basis and it has a system of prioritising these tenants.

Apart from the day-to-day interaction of staff across the housing section on tenant related issues, the council has a welfare group which meets on a regular basis, this group is comprised of senior staff from across the housing department.

KCC official Annette Aspell said the council engages with tenants who previously experienced homelessness and is managing a caseload of 85 tenancies.

There is also a group funded by the HSE which provides support to newly created tenancies where the tenant has engaged with HSE mental health service and a number of council tenants have benefited from this support.

Additional mental health tenancy supports services are being rolled out by the HSE and KCC is group which is made up of representatives from the HSE, local authorities, charities and housing bodies and deals with issues related to housing and mental health.

The meeting also heard that Housing First is managed by the Peter McVerry Trust on behalf of the council and provides extensive supports to tenants who have a history of  homelessness coupled with complex needs.

Dealing with vulnerable clients is complex, and many of the issues causing vulnerability are not housing related. 

Engagement and support from external agencies such as Tusla, the HSE mental and public health service is essential.

“We are awaiting the commencement of the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act

2015, when commenced this act will impact on how the council interacts with clients

and customers especially those who may have reduced decision-making capacity,” added Ms Aspell. Information about this is available on the Citizens Information Board.

She also said councillors with a concern about a tenancy should bring it to the attention of the housing department.

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