Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

I congratulate Deputy Tuffy on this amendment, which typifies the sort of problems we come across as public representatives. It is somewhat similar to noise pollution where people are pestered by a bad neighbour. Very often one finds this in a housing estate where somebody does not mind their garden but has these large trees that interfere and it causes untold hassle. As Deputy Tuffy said, older people are often the butt end of all this.

One of the great innovations in the Minister's Department over the past number of years was the establishment of the Small Claims Court. The Small Claims Court could be used in such situations where somebody has easy access to a decision without having to go through enormous expense and hassle. I ask the Minister to consider extending the remit of the Small Claims Court to deal with such small matters which cause much trouble and hassle to the lives of ordinary people. Neighbours are falling out and residents' associations are getting involved and these matters could be solved very quickly by the Small Claims Court.

Even the registrar could be empowered to issue an instruction to somebody to take action; very often what is needed is for somebody to tell the person to do this within the next seven days, or else. That is the simple solution to the problem. In his reply could the Minister outline to me whether it is possible to use the Small Claims Court in such situations?

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