Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am very much aware of the problem of anti-social behaviour and it has been brought to my attention by representatives from various parts of the country. While the primary responsibility for dealing with anti-social behaviour rests with An Garda Síochána, housing legislation also contains measures aimed at combatting anti-social behaviour in housing estates and I propose to introduce further measures in this area.

The Deputy is primarily concerned with local authority dwellings but in the case of private rented dwellings, the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 prohibits a tenant from engaging in anti-social behaviour in or near a dwelling to which the Act applies. The Act empowers a landlord to terminate a tenancy in the case of such behaviour, subject to a notice period of only seven days in the most serious cases. A third party directly affected by anti-social behaviour may also, subject to certain conditions, refer a complaint to the Private Residential Tenancies Board against a landlord who has failed to enforce tenant obligations.

Local authorities are responsible under the Housing Acts for the management and maintenance of their housing accommodation, including taking appropriate measures in respect of anti-social behaviour. Among the principal enactments in this is a requirement for each housing authority to adopt an anti-social behaviour strategy for the prevention and reduction of such behaviour in its housing stock. There is also provision for the District Court to make an excluding order requiring a person engaging in anti-social behaviour to leave a specified dwelling, banning him or her from entering that dwelling or the adjoining area or estate and prohibiting him or her from intimidating the local residents. Housing authorities also have power to refuse to allocate a dwelling to, or sell a house to, a person engaged in anti-social behaviour.

I am currently working on a number of measures to strengthen the powers of housing authorities in this area. I will commence section 29 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 in the coming months, under which new local authority tenancy agreements must include a specific ban on anti-social behaviour in, or in the vicinity of, the dwelling concerned. I will also be using my powers under section 29 to fulfil a commitment in the programme for Government to introduce a 12-month probationary tenancy for all new social housing tenants, which will include provision for termination in the event of anti-social behaviour. I am consulting housing authorities about the need for amendments to the excluding order regime to make it more effective in rooting out anti-social behaviour without having to evict entire families. I am also giving particular consideration to the issue of anti-social behaviour in the arrangements to be made for transferring responsibility for rent supplement households with an established long-term housing need from the Department of Social Protection to housing authorities.

Again, I thank Deputy Barry for raising this issue, which is a matter of concern to communities throughout the country. There are certain actions which can be taken now but I also intend to strengthen the hand of local authorities in this regard.

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