Ivana Bacik (Independent)

I move amendment No. 74:

In page 34, subsection (2), after line 46, to insert the following:

"(a) the promotion of good estate management,".

These amendments together provide for a reordering of the existing provisions in section 34, which is headed "Anti-social behaviour strategy". We all accept that housing authorities must have clear procedures and strategies for dealing with anti-social behaviour and we are all aware of the severe problems experienced by housing authorities, households and individual persons due to such behaviour. It is important, however, that we give a good deal of consideration to the content of the provisions dealing with anti-social behaviour. As a criminal law practitioner, I am conscious that we recently passed legislation to deal with the criminal justice aspects of anti-social behaviour. The ASBOs, anti-social behaviour orders, which were introduced with great fanfare by a previous Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, have proved to be ineffectual in practice in tackling anti-social behaviour. Indeed, many of us raised real concerns about the way in which the provisions in the criminal justice legislation were drafted in the first place. We must be cautious in our approach to legislation dealing with anti-social behaviour.

I am conscious that this Bill deals with anti-social behaviour in a particular context which is not that of criminal justice but rather of housing. The housing authorities must have powers to deal with anti-social behaviour, but what I am aiming to do with these two amendments, which must be read together, is to emphasise positive actions to deal with such behaviour. Rather than have the promotion of good estate management as the fourth objective in the list of objectives for an anti-social behaviour strategy, as is currently the case, I suggest that it be moved to constitute the first objective for an anti-social behaviour strategy. Thus, section 34(2) would read:

An anti-social behaviour strategy shall have as its principal objectives—

(a) the promotion of good estate management,

It is a reworking of the priorities in the Bill to emphasise that the promotion of good estate management is the key objective for any housing authority in developing its anti-social behaviour strategy and that the prevention and reduction of anti-social behaviour must come after that. The two are closely connected, but I am trying to achieve a difference in emphasis by ensuring the positive aspect is written first. That is why I ask the Minister to consider this simple reordering, which tries to give expression to a rather different view of priorities for a housing authority in devising an anti-social behaviour strategy.