Rise in anti-social behaviour in Wexford estates – ‘giving someone a house is not always the answer’

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

The increase in anti-social behaviour in estates across Wexford town is due to a lack of “wraparound services” for tenants who may have issues with addiction or have a criminal history. That’s according to Labour councillor Biddy Walsh who said giving someone a house “is not always the answer” in cases where the needs of the tenant go beyond having a roof over their head.

Speaking at the monthly meeting of the Wexford Borough District, Cllr Walsh said the council’s housing department had to take all these matters into consideration before allocating houses to applicants.

“Are the estates we’re building really providing for the people?” she asked. “The lack of wraparound services and anti-social behaviour are linked. When you have a housing estate which has a mixture of social and private houses and you put someone with issues into one of those properties it will lead to an increase in anti-social behaviour unless those issues are addressed.

"Giving someone a house is not always the answer. People need support as well. We want integration in our estates but if people are being put into those houses and they haven’t got the supports we’re going to see more anti-social behaviour and the guards being called.”

She received the support of party colleague Vicky Barron who said the failure to properly cater for these tenants would lead to them lapsing in and out of the system.

“We hear of people causing anti-social behaviour, they’re going to end up homeless if they’re evicted,” she said. “Then they end up back on the housing list, and it becomes a neverending cycle.”

Separately, Cllr Tom Forde had evidence of an anti-social behaviour case which stretched back 20 years without any indication of a resolution.

”There’s an individual in town who’s been having problems with a neighbour for 20 years now,” he said. “There’s awful problems with dumping and waste, blocked drains, and all I’m hearing from Wexford County Council (WCC) is that staff are speaking to the tenant.

"When I try to raise it with council staff I’m told I can’t receive any information as it would breach GDPR. I’m not looking for any sensitive information, I’m just looking for it to be resolved.”