State spends €800,000 to fight ‘neighbours from hell’

THE Government is spending €800,000 this year to tackle ‘neighbours from hell’ in local authority homes around the country.

It has given 43 local authorities around the country extra funds to set up specialised units to deal with rising complaints of anti-social behaviour in corporation and council estates.

The new anti-social units are being granted up to €60,000 each with specialist staff who will investigate complaints. Last year alone, up to 100 tenants were ordered out of their homes.

The Department of the Environment said it is still compiling last year’s statistics. But its records from 2001 show that 15 exclusion orders were sought by families trying to evict sons or daughters, most of whom were involved in drug dealing or other anti-social behaviour.

A further three exclusion orders were sought that year by local authorities. Of the 18 cases, 12 people were excluded and 10 orders were enforced. The figure is expected to be a lot higher this year.

The process of eviction is a long and complicated one and notices to quit are only served after summonses, court hearings and more often than not, a lengthy appeals process. Eviction orders are only carried out if persistent violence is shown, including attacks on other tenants or drug dealing.

In Wexford, the county council is setting up a unit at county hall to deal with growing numbers of complaints.

Its new anti-social unit has been given €57,500 by the department under its Housing Management Initiative Grants Scheme. A further €38,000 is being made available to Wexford Borough Council to allow it to appoint a tenant liaison officer.

Enniscorthy Town Council is also getting €2,500 to provide tenant training to some of its clients in one of the town’s larger estates.

Senior executive officer with Wexford County Council, Niall McDonnell, said the funding will help supplement the work already carried out by its four area housing officers and four social workers.

“We’ve had the same problems as other local authorities, with people engaged in criminal activity, harassing neighbours or drug dealing,” he said.

“In the past year, we’ve been successful in half a dozen cases as they have arisen. We have a policy that if you don’t act quickly and nip something in the bud that it can become an even larger problem.

“The new unit will focus more time, resources and attention on stamping out anti-social behaviour and we believe it will be a huge success.”