The members of Ballina Town Council have deferred the adoption of a draft anti-social behaviour strategy for another month to strengthen some of the items included in the plan.
A number of councillors pointed out what they considered to be flaws in the plan, including the exclusion of voluntary housing groups, HSE rented accommodation, and privately rented accommodation from the plan. The councillors want to see more stringent rules being applied before houses are rented in these sectors, including trying to force the HSE to ensure that all houses paid for by it through rent relief are registered with the Private Rental Tenancies Board before it approves payments. This is to ensure that landlords of tenants could be tracked down easily when issues are raised, because in some circumstances it has become very difficult to find out who the landlord is.
Fianna Fáil councillor Johnny O’Malley proposed that the council put off the adoption of the plan until the next meeting, and that the councillors hold a workshop if necessary with council officials to ensure that the plan is how they want it to be. This idea was supported by independent councillor Mary Kelly. However town clerk Carmel Murphy told the members that there was no point in putting things into the plan that the council cannot legally implement. No legislation exists giving the council control over how the HSE exercises its discretion in the payment of rent reliefs.
