Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would like to raise two issues, one of which has already been raised by Senator Colm Burke, namely, anti-social behaviour. In the last few years, there has been a lot of anti-social behaviour that has not been addressed through local authorities. The reason it has not been addressed by local authorities is because there is no mechanism available to families to have it addressed. When a person raises the issue of anti-social behaviour on the part of a neighbour with a local authority, he or she is asked to either keep a record of what is happening or to lodge an official complaint against the neighbour. Families are afraid to do that. They will not do it because they are afraid of their neighbours, which is the reason they take up the matter with the local authority.

The same applies when a person raises this issue with the Garda Síochána, namely, the person is told to either keep a record of what is happening or to lodge an official complaint. The Minister needs to step in and to introduce legislation to protect people who are being victimised by anti-social behaviour. Currently, the only basis on which a tenant can be evicted from a local authority is for non-payment of rent. We need the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government to come to this House to address this issue.

I would also like to raise the issue of revaluation of commercial rates across the country.