Tom Barry (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue. People have a right to live peacefully and not to live in fear or to be terrorised by other people in their neighbourhood. I am aware of one lovely, relatively new estate where three families are seeking to be rehoused elsewhere because of the unbearable behaviour towards them. Their cars are being damaged, their children are being both verbally attacked and threatened and people are walking on their back walls and looking in their windows. It is absolutely unacceptable behaviour, and no sector of society holds a monopoly on such behaviour.

This is strictly about people who misbehave when they are granted housing after being approved by a local authority. Regardless of one's colour, class or creed, behaving in this fashion is unacceptable. This problem must be recognised and forcefully tackled. If legislative change is required for this to happen, so be it. These anti-social groups have no respect for either themselves or their communities. Local authority housing forms require one to get a peace commissioner to certify one's income. There is also a section dealing with public order offences. This type of self assessment of an individual's public order record is insufficient and Garda certification should be required. Many people, including young people, have been in regular contact with the Garda but do not have an official criminal record. Nevertheless, they are causing huge problems. Any statement from a garda indicating that the people would not make good neighbours should certainly be taken into account.

The spirit of social housing is that people who are allocated a house will fit into a community and not destroy the lives of the people around them. We recently considered a vetting Bill in this House dealing with employers who have vulnerable adults or children working for them. It is very welcome legislation. A local authority has valuable property on its books and the well-being of that property and the estate in general is at stake. Vetting of housing applicants must be an element in assessing their suitability for social housing. In these cases, one is always dealing with vulnerable people and children because these will be one's neighbours. People who always shout about their rights must realise that they also have responsibilities and that the rights of their neighbours are equally important.

I am aware of another case where an extremely difficult family with a strong anti-social behaviour track record was housed in a quiet estate. The residents were completely hampered prior to the allocation and felt their local representatives were powerless to make their voices heard. They were right. The rights were all on the side of one family, above those of all the other families. Local authority executives are quick to cite legislation and the potential for litigation. Technically, they are correct but there appears to be little to support the families who know the trouble that is being foisted upon them. The law-abiding people approach their local elected representatives for help, but the representatives can do nothing about the process.

The process of allocating houses is closed. Perhaps we should consider establishing an assessment board for social housing in each local authority. It could incorporate local gardaí, public representatives and council executives. Garda vetting should be mandatory before allocations are made. We are all conscious of the right of people to a home, but we are over-emphasising their rights and underplaying their responsibilities to their communities and neighbours. We should also consider the imposition of financial penalties where anti-social behaviour occurs. If one does not treat the State's property or one's neighbour's property properly, one should pay for the cost of the damage or it should be deducted from what one receives in benefits from the State.

We must also consider the possibility of imposing rigorous regulations whereby repeated anti-social behaviour means one simply forfeits the right to social housing. At present, the people who are causing the problems are remaining in the estates while their neighbours, who have done nothing wrong, feel they have no other option but to leave. Our obsession with doing the right thing has turned the morality of this situation on its head.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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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.

Tom Barry (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for her response. People elect local representatives to speak for them, but residents feel that they have no representation in respect of social housing. I presume it is a classic battle between the executive and the reserve functions in local government. The elected representatives feel they have no input and cannot act for those on whose behalf they were elected to act. It is also not the fault of the executive because it must follow the rules and it knows they are ambiguous. I am delighted the Minister said she will examine this. That is what we need. We must ensure the legislation deals with the current situation.

However, the legislation must respect all the residents in these cases, not just the applicants. We must make it crystal clear that local authorities have no obligation to house people who disrupt communities. The assessment boards I have proposed should incorporate local gardaí, public representatives and relevant members of the council executive. I understand there will be some allegations of cronyism in local government, but a well structured board conducting an open process should negate any such concerns. There is a complete lack of transparency in the area of decision making at present and this must be tackled.

The current system is not working. Too many people are coming to the clinics of public representatives in complete distress. Their children are also upset. Last week, one person arrived at a clinic threatening suicide because they are living day and night with completely unacceptable anti-social behaviour around them. Some of the people indulging in anti-social behaviour are up all night while others are up all day. The people who love their houses and take excellent care of them therefore feel they have no choice but to move. It is an unacceptable situation when one considers State assets and their distribution.

It is also a waste of public sector time. Forced eviction of innocent people is not on. I thank the Minister of State and commend her on her approach in this matter.

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I thank Deputy Barry. Every week we meet people who are subject to intolerable anti-social behaviour and who often feel like prisoners in their own homes. We must do something effective about this, although I am not sure about the idea of assessment boards. I heard the Deputy's thoughts on the matter and I am consulting on it. We have commenced work on a new housing Bill and I have outlined other measures related to the implementation of current legislation. We are consulting on the contents of the new housing Bill because this is one of the biggest issues that comes to the attention of public representatives and I intend to act on it.