Dundee project to reduce evictions to be examined

The Government is to examine a Scottish project that has helped 80 families facing eviction, and saved the local authority £117,000 a year in reduced levels of anti-social behaviour.

Minister of State for housing Noel Ahern said that although the precise form of the project in Dundee "may fall outside of the scope of the existing housing support scheme", he would have the matter examined in more detail, and some aspects of it might apply to Ireland.

He was responding to the chairman of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party Seamus Kirk (Louth), who said that "evicting families from their homes does little to address the root causes of anti-social behaviour".

The Dundee authorities believed the policy of eviction of nuisance neighbours or families engaged in anti-social behaviour, "displaced rather than addressed" the problem.

The project resulted over five years in "a marked reduction in anti-social behaviour and evictions".

He said that many of the families "have a history of anti-social behaviour, such as noise pollution, violence, damage to property, drug dealing, fire raising and running a protection racket".

Of the 126 families targeted, two-thirds were successfully helped and rehoused, while 20 per cent did not meet expected targets and 10 per cent of families refused to get involved.

Mr Kirk said it could be introduced on a pilot basis in Ireland but, at the very least, the Department of Environment "should examine in depth the lessons to be gleaned from the Dundee experience and see if they could be applied in Ireland".

The Minister described the Dundee project as an "interesting initiative".