Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Senator very much for raising this issue. It has been my experience that the vast majority of tenants, such as social housing tenants or tenants of AHBs, are exemplary. They are model tenants. That certainly seems to be the experience. In a small number of situations, there are tenants who may partake in antisocial behaviour. We have to admit that we have scenarios where they make their neighbours' lives hell. It is very difficult. It is apparent that some local authorities are better than others at dealing with that and using the powers that are available.

I will outline the legislation and the tools that are available to local authorities to deal with these situations. My colleague, the Minister for justice, has overall responsibility for policy and legislation relating to serious incidents of antisocial behaviour through the criminal code, which is enforced by An Garda Síochána. My Department also has a key role to play in this by providing a framework of legislation giving social housing landlords a range of tools to tackle antisocial behaviour being perpetrated by their tenants. Local authorities are responsible under the housing Acts for the management and maintenance of their housing stock and the management of their estates, including taking appropriate measures to counter antisocial behaviour. The Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1997 provides for the issuing of court orders to exclude a household member engaged in antisocial behaviour from the dwelling and, if appropriate, the estate in question. The Senator has already mentioned this power. The 1997 Act also empowers a housing authority to refuse to allocate or sell a dwelling to a person engaged in antisocial behaviour. The powers of local authorities in this area were significantly enhanced by Part 2 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014, which provides for the issuing of a tenancy warning requiring that tenants cease any antisocial activity. Part 2 of the 2014 Act also gives local authorities the power to recover possession of their dwellings from households in serious breach of their tenancy agreements, including engaging in antisocial behaviour.

In the AHB sector, the Residential Tenancies Acts regulate the relationship between AHB landlords and their social tenants and set out the tenancy rights and obligations for both parties. AHBs are responsible for enforcing the obligations that apply to their tenants under the Residential Tenancies Acts. Where a tenant is engaged in antisocial behaviour or allowing others to engage in such behaviour, the Residential Tenancies Acts allow an AHB to terminate the tenancy, subject to a notice period of seven days in the case of serious antisocial behaviour or 28 days in the case of less serious but persistent behaviour.The Residential Tenancies Act also provides that a third party affected by antisocial behaviour may take a case to the RTB against an AHB which has failed to enforce its tenant’s obligation not to engage in antisocial behaviour. The forthcoming residential tenancies (amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2025 will broaden the type of evidence of antisocial behaviour that the RTB can consider in its dispute resolution service.

My answer sets out the tools that are available and the legal status in relation to AHBs and social housing. It is important to say as well that it is not just in social housing situations where we see this type of antisocial behaviour where tenants or residents of a house are causing issues within estates. It does happen. Thankfully, I still think it is the minority but, obviously, if it is persistent, especially in certain areas like the Senator highlighted in south County Dublin, then it is something we need to address. I have set out the legislation and policy. In fairness, the Senator also asked for the reporting mechanism. I think that is very fair to ask for how we monitor the implementation of these rules. That is absolutely something we will look into.