COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, April 12, 2010

QUESTION NO.4

QUESTION: Councillor S. Crowe

To ask the Manager will he outline in a report what measures this Council takes to address potential racist attacks and intimidation of new and longterm Council tenants?

REPLY:

Statistics recorded on the Council's anti social behaviour database show that in 2008 no complaints were made to the Council in relation to racism.  In 2009, 10 complaints were received under this heading and a further 6 such complaints were received in the first 3 months of this year. 

The Housing Department is acutely aware of the necessity to combat racism in its Housing Estates and to ensure that the problem is eradicated in the small number of estates where it is a problem so as to combat the threat that the problem may increase if it is not tackled immediately.  All complaints of this nature are taken very seriously by the Allocations Support Staff and are investigated fully. 

Various modern methods of combating racism are currently being explored such as the installation of CCTV Cameras to monitor activity in and around the homes of Foreign National tenants who have reported problems and who have given authorisation for this type of surveillance.

The Housing Department works in close co-operation with colleagues in the Community Department and particulary with the Social Inclusion Unit.

Various iniatives have been undertaken to address the issue of racism over recent months as follows

• Pretenancy training, which is compulsory for all prospective tenants, has been restructured so as to cultivate an ethos of inclusivity amongst participants.  The training is used to nurture the concept of community development, capacity building and active citizenship from the outset.
• The Council in its dealings with Resident Associations always stresses the necessity to foster relationships between tenants and representatives of all sections of the Community and in the new estates in particular great success has been achieved in having particpation from a number of ethnic groups.
• The first of a number of MEET YOUR NEIGHBOURS events recently took place in the Brookfield Youth and Community Centre. This event was attended by several agencies involved with Cultural Intergration and by a large number of residents from different ethnic backgrounds.
• It is proposed to arrange a number of day trips during the summer months to which locally born tenants and the New Irish will be invited with a view to encouraging greater intergration amongst the many peoples who now reside in many of the Council's Housing estates.
• It is also proposed to facilitate cookery classes to which tenants from a number of estates in West Tallaght will be invited so as to enhance appreciation of different culinary skills amongst the different nationalities represented in these Housing estates.
• Initatives have been ongoing in the Balgaddy Estates in West Dublin for over a year aimed at heightening awareness amongst tenants about the benefits of cultural intergration. A special Christmas celebration was held in this area which was attended by several hundred tenants which built on work previously undertaken by the Nurture Development concept.
• In Balgaddy also it is proposed to improve cultural intergration through a number of Environmental Projects including a gardening project which will be facilitated by An Taisce and which will hopefully culminate in the creation of a Community Garden to benefit both public and private householders.
• Schools Initiatives with Show Racism the Red Card

The Council will continue to work on initiatives to help combat Racism within our communities.