Wexford council admits ‘there’s nothing it can do’ in cases where tenants are accused of domestic violence

By Simon Bourke, Wexford People

While the creation of a new domestic violence register will provide security for those entering into relationships with potentially abusive partners, there remain concerns regarding local councils’ abilities to intervene in situations where its tenants are suffering at the hands of another.

Speaking at the November meeting of Wexford County Council (WCC) Councillor Aoife Rose O’Brien asked whether the local authority had any power in such a scenario.

“Our policy with regards to the issue of domestic violence, can we improve that and offer more protection to people?” she asked. “I welcome the introduction of the live register (for perpetrators of domestic violence) but there’s a duty of care for us to ensure we are protecting vulnerable people in our houses, and that we have a robust policy towards this.”

In response, director of housing Carolyne Godkin said there was only so much WCC could do if a tenant was accused of domestic violence.

“There’s an impact in terms of housing, but it doesn’t fall under tenancy law so there’s nothing we can do,” she said. “It’s a civil matter between the persons within the property. It can be really difficult where people are joint tenants. This is something which needs to be looked at nationally rather than locally as the civil part of the law doesn’t impact the tenancy.

"We try to work through it as best we can, case by case. Sometimes we get good co-operation from tenants, other times we don’t.”