Council tenants who are causing anti-social behaviour – including assaulting and intimidating neighbours – should be evicted, the monthly meeting of Laois County Council heard.
Cllr James Kelly had a motion before the meeting seeking information on the number of reports of anti-social behaviour over the last 12 months.
He also called on the council to address the serious anti-social issue by assigning extra staff to the estate management section of the housing department.
The meeting heard that 35 reports of anti-social behaviour have been received by the council since January.
A staff member has been assigned to the housing department to cover maternity leave.
A response from the council outlined that a review is being carried out of existing cases.
Anti-social behaviour can involve drug-taking, noise issues, dog control, intimidation etc.
Minority
“A small minority are causing the problems,” Cllr Kelly said.
He welcomed the recent news that there will be 15 new garda recruits coming into the area.
“Laois County Council is the biggest landlord in the county with 2,000 residents. Thirty five reports – four per month – that’s very low,” he said.
“There is a lot of anti-social behaviour,” he said.
Cllr Aidan Mullins agreed that the figure of 35 reports was very low.
Consequences
He said there is concern among council tenants about the way complaints are being addressed with no consequences for people engaged in anti-social behaviour.
“We need to follow through and have evictions. The impact this is having on people’s lives. I know of people who have asked to be transferred out of estates because of intimidation and assaults,” he said.
“Our tenant legislation needs to be beefed up. We cannot let this carry on,” Cllr Mullins said.
Landlords have a role to play, Cllr John King said.
“It is unfair on young families when there are undesirable tenants,” he said.
“Nobody sitting here wants to see evictions,” Cllr Noel Tuohy said, “but we need to address this”. He said a small amount of people can destroy an estate, and they need to be pro-active on it.
“In Portlaoise, there is huge anti-social behaviour in council estates,” Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley said.
The council needs to ensure there is a proper service there for tenants. She welcomed the fact that a person is being designated to deal with this.
“These are council tenants of ours. A number of people have looked to be transferred (because of the behaviour). We need to get on top of this,” she said.
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