Dundalk councillor says changes needed to deal with tenants engaging in anti-social behaviour

At Tuesday evening’s JPC meeting, Councillor Maeve Yore proposed a motion that the Dundalk JPC write to the Minister for Housing requesting he begin an immediate update to rules, strategies and penalties around how local authorities and housing bodies can deal with problem tenants.

She asked for measures to deal with those who she said “continually abuse the system, break the law and crucify neighbours while wasting local authority and garda resources and revenue while costing taxpayers a fortune.”

Councillor Yore further said that: “Respect for self and respect for neighbours is paramount and it is unfair on other residents. Local Authorities have the responsibility also to ensure there is a broad spectrum of nominees for any new development and we should request from the Minister that each local authority have transitional step-down housing for long term homeless people or people leaving prison services with wraparound support which they do not have at present.”

The motion was supported by Sinn Fein Councillor Edel Corrigan who said there was a good opportunity on 16th November when the Minister was coming to Dundalk to present him with the motion and sought for a delegation to meet with him.

She said that there were certain places where residents are having to go through months of torment and fear while waiting on problem tenants to be evicted.

Fianna Fail councillor Conor Keelan also supported the motion saying he had proposed a similar motion during the last council.

He said his motion entailed a provision for the chief executive of the council to be given powers to evict a tenant who has been engaging in extreme antisocial behaviour on the advice of the local garda superintendent.

Chairman of the JPC and Fianna Fail Councillor Sean Kelly also voiced support for the motion saying that:

“In the last week alone I’ve had meetings in relation to Patrick Tieney apartments where there are about fourteen properties, and there are serious problems of antisocial behaviour there.”