Serious anti-social behaviour regulation laws are to be introduced which will help Local Authorities evict tenants who are engaging in serious acts of anti-social behaviour.
Minister for Housing Jan O’Sullivan has stated today that there are problem with evicting such offenders and the Government will be introducing new legislation next year which will also include a probationary period for new tenants who offend.
Some 6,000 complaints of serious anti-social behaviour have been reported in local authority controlled housing throughout the country and the minister believes that those who engage in such behaviour should be denied local authority tenancy.
Complaints received included problems with graffiti, music, intimidation and drug dealing and & so far this year councils have conducted 20 evictions for such behaviour.
Graffiti here in Thurles continues to go unchecked and ignored as onlookers who attended the recent Tipperary Women’s Mini Marathon will attest. I must admit however that I find it difficult to understand how we must wait until next year for new legislation to deal with such anti-social behaviour problems. After all, the legislation demanding Household Charges & Septic Tank charges were able to be introduced into law within a few weeks.
Are ‘Town By-laws,’ which were previously permitted rules adopted by Town & City Councils, to regulate the affairs and behaviour of citizens, a thing of the past and are local councillors now devoid of all real power & therefore no longer required in our towns & cities, since the introduction of central funding controlled by national governments? Are there significant financial savings to be made, by the abolition of local councillors?
Graffiti will continue until there is punishment when the bad person is caught. I mean P U N I S H M E N T. When someone puts graffiti on a business premises or tags a public building, they don’t seem to care that it will be a burden for someone else to clean up.
That old fire station is an eyesore too but the county council owns it and they wont demolish it and move the area office. But how many times in the past have we commented on graffiti. We have a lazy good for nothing town council. Funny story too about Garda foot patrols in the town. I was walking past Thurles Garda station last week 3 gardai got into a car and must have sat in it for a while because I was up near supermacs when the car actually came up to the square dropped them off at Permanent TSB and they walked back down Slievenamon road towards the Garda station :/
Are they trying to give the impression they patrolled the whole town?