COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, July 10, 2017

MOTION NO.6

MOTION: Councillor C. O'Connor , Councillor P. Donovan

That this South Dublin County Council, recognising the valued work undertaken by South Dublin Mediation Services, calls on the CEO to continue to support the provision of mediation to tenants and residents of South Dublin County to enable them to resolve neighbour and similar disputes in a low cost and effective way and also outline how the Council intends to position mediation as a first step in resolving inter-neighbour and inter-community issues into the future so as to minimise the burden, in time and money, of such disputes and to help achieve successful outcomes to these disputes.

REPORT:

South Dublin County Council has for numerous years engaged the services of the Mediation Bureau based within the county to deal with mainly neighbour disputes.

The Mediation Bureau is used by the Anti-Social Unit, Housing Department as a tool, where appropriate, to prevent the escalation of neighbour disputes within the Local Authority Housing Estates.  Mediation is a way of dealing with conflict where neighbour disputes may start off small but can escalate.   Early intervention can be crucial in preventing such escalation.  Mediation and training have positive outcomes for individuals involved and there is a ripple effect into our local communities. The majority of tenants who were involved in the neighbour disputes engaged with the process and in turn prevented an escalation of the dispute within the community. The positive outcome from this process is the result of tenants remaining in their homes.  Failure to engage in the service may have resulted in enforcement proceedings being taken by the Anti-Social Unit and ultimately resulting in a Notice to quit being served on the individuals concerned.

The Council also has committed to the Mediation Service following a meeting with the Dublin Circuit and District Courts Office on the Mediation Service project to provide potential litigants with an alternative to going to court to resolve their dispute. The service is aimed at 4 main areas of dispute

Boundary Disputes

Private Prosecution for breach of Peace

Disputes between adult family members

Complaints about Noise and Nuisance Pets

The Council is willing and engaged to use mediation services in any appropriate cases.