Anti-social behaviour complaints are confidential but not anonymous says Tipperary County Council

The housing section of Tipperary County Council have assured members of the Tipperary Joint Policing Committee that tenants who make a complaint will have complete confidentiality.

Following a presentation of the draft anti-social behaviour strategy last week, Chairman councillor Noel Coonan said that he found it concerning that the housing section does not take anonymous complaints.

“When someone makes a complaint about the neighbour from hell, it can make things worse rather than better,” said Cllr Coonan.

However, Estate Manager Breda Ryan said this is for good reason and all complaints are confidential.

This means that a tenant’s name will not be shared while a complaint is being investigated or prosecuted.

While all staff can log a complaint, they cannot view the complaints.

She said that even solicitors do not have access to the personal information of the complainant.

Names must be given she said, so the council can follow up if they need more information.

“We have been in court with a lot of cases, and not once has a judge or solicitor asked who made the complaint.

“We are extremely careful in regards to that. We would like the message to go out that if you have a complaint, log it with the customer service desk. You will have confidentiality, and your information will not be released,” said Ms Ryan.

Senior Executive Officer Cora Morrisey said during their presentation that:

“Everyone is entitled to live a peaceful life in their own home.”

She also said all compaints are taken seriously.

According to the presentation, the local authority has 5000 tenants, including 300 under the long-term lease scheme.

They have five liaison officers and three traveller accommodation and officers.

The council are currently reviewing their tenant handbook, the terms of their allocation scheme and have put forward a draft of their anti-social behaviour strategy.

The changes to the strategy were ‘minor’ and to reflect changing legislation.

They have updated their documentation to reflect new garda powers, updated data protection law, their policy on social media abuse of council officials, and to recognise the impact of racism in council tenancies.

Cllr David Dunne said he welcomes the strategy as he himself spent two years dealing with anti-social behaviour. He said he knows the impact it can have on a person’s life.

“When anti-social behaviour is personalised. When you are in bed at night and they are playing music and calling your name and you have to get up the next morning for work. It can really be detrimental to your health.

Cllr Tony Black said that it can be ‘frightening’ to put your name to a complaint when you are being ‘tormented’ by neighbours.

He said that councillors know what is happening in their community and he offered his assistance to the council in investigations.

Cllr Coonan agreed saying:

“We are the first point of contact. That is very important to emphasise. We deal with this all the time.”

The strategy is to go to the SPC for ratification and will then be presented to a full sitting of Tipperary County Council.