Larry Butler (Fianna Fail)

I support Senator Glynn's call for proper management of social housing and the anti-social behaviour that takes place in local authority housing estates. Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council found it necessary to introduce a scheme whereby people on its housing list had to undergo a course before getting a house. It is a management course on how a house is run, the equipment in the house and how to use it, where the water is turned on and off and so forth. It might sound simple but a house is a big resource to give to somebody. In Dún Laoghaire the average house costs €250,000 so when a house is rented to somebody from the housing list, it is a big investment in that person. Every local authority should do the same. The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government should examine this scheme with a view to extending it throughout the country.

There are very decent people living in social and affordable housing who cannot live their lives in peace because of anti-social behaviour. That is not good enough. It is important we do something about it now because this problem is leading to the gang warfare we see in Limerick, Dublin and other cities. The Minister must put some type of plan together on how people can live together more peacefully. It is important to bear in mind that a person's home is his or her castle and they should be able to live their lives in peace. The local authorities can play a major role in that regard.