Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

My last question is about anti-social behaviour in housing estates. I am thinking of housing estates in the Dublin 17 area. I attend the local joint policing committees and they play a very valuable role but there is still a particular problem in housing estates where there may be low level anti-social behaviour as well as the kind of behaviour that is related to crime and drugs. Very often people are forced to leave the area and to seek accommodation elsewhere because of the ongoing low level harassment and abuse and because children are afraid to go out to play. All of that kind of stuff continues and it has a very damaging effect on communities. There are certain areas where people are afraid to go to live because of this pattern of behaviour. As I say, I give credit to the gardaí in that particular area but I think there is a need for some new strategies to try to deal with it.