Teacher paid pupils' mother's car tax

The principal of a Mullingar school paid three months’ car tax for a parent – out of his own pocket – when the woman’s car was seized by gardaí after she dropped her children to school.

The mother, who has nowhere for her and her four children to live, told the Westmeath Examiner that earlier this year after she dropped her children to primary school, the gardaí took her car – despite her protestations that they had no other means of transport.
Distraught, she walked back to the school, broke down, and told the headmaster the family was homeless and she could not cope.
“The school knew nothing of our struggles as I kept it to myself,” said the woman, who reached out for help this week to a retired Offaly garda who has been helping people in the midlands enduring food shortages.
The woman has been struggling with accommodation problems for around 17 months now, but they stem back to the breakdown of her marriage five years ago.
After that, she moved to Longford – which meant that when she needed crisis housing after becoming homeless in April/May 2007, Longford County Council referred her to Westmeath, and Westmeath claimed she was Longford’s responsibility.
“I borrowed from friends to pay for hotel rooms all over both counties. I had no fixed abode so was told I couldn’t claim one parent, family or any payment. I received only a €100 emergency payment from CWO (the Community Welfare Office) during six weeks. I continued going to the council and social welfare in Mullingar as my kids were all born there. I would be there from early until late with my kids begging for help and getting nothing. I would leave and ring around to borrow money and rent hotel rooms.
“Most of the time I only had the price of a single room so I’d sneak the kids in put three in a single bed and myself and my daughter would sleep on the floors.”
After a time, she ran out of people to borrow from, and was sleeping with the children in the car.
Eventually, she secured a B&B room on a weekly basis, and was able to apply for one parent family allowance.
“I asked both council and social again for help towards the rent and was refused. I paid half my weekly money on the one-room B&B but at least I could cook and wash clothes.”
At this stage, the woman even managed to find some cleaning jobs. In August 2017 she had to surrender the B&B room due to a prior booking – and she was thrilled to find a two-bed apartment, even though it was run down and full of rubbish.
“I emptied, cleaned, painted and decorated the flat so was able to move in without a deposit. I bought bunk beds and a double bed from Vincent’s charity. The rent was €700 per month.”
However, she was devastated when the council refused her Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) on the basis that a two-bed apartment was “too small” for the five of them.
By January, with no HAP and unable to work because one of the children has a worsening health condition, the woman was finding it difficult to keep up with the rent, so she moved in with family for a week before going back out house hunting.
That led to a two-week holiday home rental.
“I didn’t bother with the council at that time because I lost hope,” the woman said.
It was then that the car was seized, and the intervention of the school came.
“They were shocked and horrified [by] it all,” says the woman, adding that the principal and vice-principal took her to the council, which agreed to put her on the housing list.
Since then she has been living in a hotel, and she has registered her children for all local schools as she does not know to which she will be able to send them.
“Because of all of this my mental health is gone,” she says, explaining that she is on medication and is underweight and worn out.
“My children have no friends because we live in a hotel and they’re embarrassed,” she continues, adding that the children nearly all now have medical issues related to their weight and size.
“I do my best to provide meals for them but with no regular meal times or routine, they have lost their appetite. They’re constantly sick because their immunity is down. I buy Complan, iron, multivitamins, tonics, everything I think will help.
“They draw pictures of homes and what it will be like when we get one. It breaks my heart into pieces listening to them. I view houses regular but with open viewings and seeing working couples I know I won’t get a call back. I am treated different than other people at viewings. No matter how well spoken and well-dressed I am, it doesn’t matter – I am judged. My confidence is knocked every single time.”