I propose to take questions Nos. 596 and 630 together.
Each housing authority is responsible, under section 58 of the Housing Act 1966, for the management and maintenance of its housing stock. It would be inappropriate for me to comment on management issue s relating to particular dwellings as I have no statutory function in individual cases. Housing authorities have a range of statutory housing powers to assist them in tackling anti-social behaviour in their housing stock. These powers include the power to refuse to allocate, or to refuse to sell, a dwelling to a person engaged in anti-social behaviour and the power to seek a court order excluding a person engaged in anti-social behaviour (other than the tenant) from entering a local authority dwelling or estate for a period of up to 3 years. Each housing authority also has a statutory duty to adopt and review an anti-social behaviour strategy for the prevention and reduction of anti-social behaviour in its housing stock, which must provide for co-operation with other relevant bodies, notably the Gardaí, who have a range of measures in place to deal with allegations of such behaviour generally.
Proposals for a Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill currently being developed in my Department include a new procedure that will enable housing authorities to recover possession of their dwellings from households in serious breach of their tenancy agreements, including engagement in anti-social behaviour. I am also examining the scope for making the excluding order powers of housing authorities more effective in tackling anti-social behaviour without having to evict entire families from their homes.