asked the Minister for the Environment if his Department will issue a clear directive to local authorities on the rehousing of wives and their children in circumstances of marital break-down where there has been a record of violence on the part of husbands; and if a similar directive will be issued in cases where husbands and their children are the victims of their wives' misbehaviour.
Written Answers. - Rehousing of Families.
156.
Section 60 of the Housing Act, 1966, as amended by Section 16 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1979, requires housing authorities to let their dwellings in accordance with a scheme of letting priorities made by them and approved by me. The Acts also provide that these schemes shall determine the priorities to be accorded to categories of persons specified in the scheme. I am satisfied that housing authorities generally have shown themselves to be aware of, and sympathetic to, the housing needs of the categories mentioned in the Deputy's question and I do not consider that a particular directive to each authority on this issue is necessary.