Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I congratulate the Green Party and Deputy Cuffe on bringing forward this Bill. Many people around the country will have more than a passing interest in its contents. A person's home is his or her castle. With all the activity and hustle and bustle of modern living, everybody to some degree experiences an encroachment on their private space, but the line has to be drawn on the degree of encroachment. Many people will be interested in ensuring that the neighbours from hell syndrome is stopped. There was nothing with which I disagreed in the Minister of State's speech except that when people look for help, they find it very difficult to get it.

I know of one dog in one rural area which nearly drove the townland mad for a year. There was a legion of people trying to nail him in one way or other, or to nail the owner, but between the dog and his owner, they won. This is the sort of situation which makes many people fed up to the teeth, especially when they cannot get a night's sleep. There seems to be no overall responsibility.

I come from a rural background——

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