Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the measures in place for residents to deal with anti social behaviour in housing estates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13213/13]

Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if will clarify the proposals regarding anti-social behaviour by tenants which include landlords being prosecuted by the Private Residential Tenancies Board in cases when tenants misbehave inside or outside the property; if such proposals are to be handled as civil or criminal cases; if will confirm the authority of the Gardaí in such cases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13389/13]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 139 and 148 together.

Housing authorities have a range of statutory housing powers to assist them in tackling anti-social behaviour in their housing stock. These powers include the power to refuse to allocate, or to refuse to sell, a dwelling to a person engaged in anti-social behaviour and the power to seek a court order excluding a person engaged in anti-social behaviour from entering a local authority dwelling or estate for a period of up to 3 years. Each housing authority also has a statutory duty to adopt and review an anti-social behaviour strategy for the prevention and reduction of anti-social behaviour in its housing stock, which must provide for co-operation with other relevant bodies, notably the Gardaí, who have a range of measures in place to deal with allegations of such behaviour generally.

I intend to commence section 29 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 this year and to make the necessary regulations to give effect to the Programme for Government commitment to introduce probationary tenancies for all new social housing tenants, which will include provision for termination in the event of anti-social behaviour.

Proposals for new housing legislation currently being developed in my Department will include a revised procedure to replace section 62 of the Housing Act, 1966, which will be designed to enable housing authorities to recover possession of their dwellings from households engaged in anti-social behaviour. I am also examining the scope for making the excluding order powers of housing authorities more effective in tackling anti-social behaviour without having to evict entire families from their homes. In the context of the new legislation, I am 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.

The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 regulates the tenant-landlord relationship in the private rented residential sector. The Act sets out the obligations of tenants and landlords in the sector and the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) is the independent statutory body charged with the administration of the Act and the enforcement of those obligations, as necessary.

While action to deal with anti-social behaviour is primarily a matter for An Garda Síochána in terms of private residential estates and complexes, under section 15 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 a landlord of a dwelling owes a duty to enforce the obligations of the tenant to each person who could be potentially affected by the breach of those obligations.

The Act specifically prohibits a tenant in a private residential tenancy from engaging in anti-social behaviour in, or in the vicinity of, a dwelling to which the Act applies and allows a landlord to terminate any tenancy where the tenant is engaging in or allowing others to engage in such behaviour. This termination is subject to a notice period of only 7 days in the case of serious anti-social behaviour or 28 days in the case of less serious but persistent behaviour.

Section 77 of the Residential Tenancies Act provides that a third party who is directly and adversely affected by anti-social behaviour may refer a complaint to the PRTB against a landlord who has failed to enforce tenant obligations. It also allows the PRTB to furnish the name and address of the landlord concerned to a person who proposes to make such a complaint. However, the third party complainant must have taken reasonable steps to resolve the matter by communicating or attempting to communicate with the parties to the tenancy concerned before referring the complaint to the PRTB.

The effectiveness of these provisions was clearly demonstrated in a recent case taken in Cork against the landlord of two properties, the tenants of which were found to be engaging in anti-social behaviour. A group of 13 residents took a case to the PRTB and were awarded combined damages of just under €30,000 against the landlord for his failure to address the behaviour of his tenants.

The above provisions are being kept under review in the context of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment)(No. 2) Bill 2012, which will provide for amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act 2004; the Bill has recently completed second stage in the Dáil.

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to amend the legislation in relation to private rented accommodation to enable the Private Residential Tenancies Board to publish on their website the landlord's name, in the case of all rented accommodation, thereby ensuring that landlords take more responsibility for the behaviour of their tenants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13285/13]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The Residential Tenancies Act 2004 regulates the tenant-landlord relationship in the private rented residential sector. The Act sets out the obligations of tenants and landlords in the sector and the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) is the independent statutory body charged with the administration of the Act and the enforcement of those obligations.

Section 128 of the Act stipulates that the PRTB’s published register of tenancies will not contain any information that could disclose the identity of the landlord or of the tenant(s) of a particular dwelling. I have no plans to amend the legislation in that regard.

Section 15 of the Residential Tenancies Act provides that a landlord of a dwelling owes a duty to third parties to enforce the obligations of a tenant under a tenancy. Section 77 of the Act provides that a third party who is directly and adversely affected by the failure of a landlord to enforce the obligations of a tenant may refer a complaint to the PRTB against that landlord. It also allows the PRTB to furnish the name and address of the landlord concerned to a person who proposes to make such a complaint. However, the third party complainant must have taken reasonable steps to resolve the matter by communicating or attempting to communicate with the parties to the tenancy concerned before referring the complaint to the PRTB.

Breaches of tenants' or landlords' obligations are referred to the PRTB in the context of applications to it for its dispute resolution services. Parties involved in a dispute can apply for either adjudication or mediation as a means of dispute resolution. In the event of an appeal from adjudication or an unsuccessful mediation the dispute will be referred to a tenancy tribunal. The PRTB may issue directions regarding those obligations in its Determination Orders and, in the event of non-compliance with the Orders, it may pursue enforcement via Court proceedings.