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Amendment of Act of 1997.
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35.—The Act of 1997 is hereby amended by—
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(a) the insertion of the following section after section 3:
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“Site excluding orders.
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3A.—(1) A person who is authorised, including a person who is jointly authorised, by a housing authority or an approved body to occupy a caravan on a site (in this section referred to as an ‘authorised person’) may apply to the District Court for a site excluding order against another person (in this Act referred to as the ‘respondent’) whom the authorised person making the application believes to be engaging in antisocial behaviour.
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(2) A housing authority or an approved body may, in respect of a site provided by the housing authority or the approved body under the Housing Acts, 1966 to 1998, apply to the District Court for a site excluding order against a respondent whom the housing authority or the approved body believe to be engaging in anti-social behaviour and where the housing authority or the approved body—
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(a) having consulted the authorised person concerned and the health board in whose functional area the site is situate, believe that such authorised person may be deterred or prevented by violence, threat or fear from pursuing an application for a site excluding order, and
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(b) consider that, in the interests of good estate management, it is appropriate, in all the circumstances, to apply for a site excluding order.
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(3) Where, following an application under this section, the District Court, or the Circuit Court on appeal from the District Court, is of the opinion that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the respondent is or has been engaged in anti-social behaviour, it may by order (in this Act referred to as a ‘site excluding order’)—
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(a) direct the respondent, if residing at the site in respect of which the application was made, to leave that site, and
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(b) prohibit the respondent, whether or not the respondent is or is not residing at the site, for the period during which the order is in force, from entering or being in the vicinity of that site or any other specified site or being on or being in or in the vicinity of any specified site.
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(4) A site excluding order may, if the court thinks fit, prohibit the respondent from causing or attempting to cause any intimidation, coercion, harassment or obstruction of, threat to, or interference with the authorised person referred to in either subsection (1) or subsection (2) or other occupant of any site concerned.
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(5) Where a site excluding order has been made the authorised person concerned, where the application was made under subsection (1), or the housing authority or approved body, where the application was made under subsection (2), or the respondent may apply to have such site excluding order varied and the District Court, or the Circuit Court, on hearing such application for variation shall make such order as it considers appropriate in the circumstances.
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(6) A site excluding order, whether made by the District Court or the Circuit Court on appeal from the District Court, shall, subject to subsection (7) and section 9, expire 3 years after the date of its making or on the expiration of such shorter period as specified in the order.
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(7) On or before the expiration of a site excluding order to which subsection (6) relates, a further site excluding order may be made by the District Court, or by the Circuit Court, on appeal from the District Court, for a period of 3 years or such shorter period as specified in the order and the order shall take effect from the date of expiration of the first-mentioned site excluding order.
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(8) A site excluding order under this section may if the court thinks fit or appropriate—
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(a) require the respondent, within a specified period, or
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(b) permit the respondent, on such conditions as the court may specify,
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to remove from the site any caravan owned and occupied by the respondent on that site.
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(9) Sections 4 to 12 shall apply, with any necessary modifications, to a site excluding order under this section and for this purpose references in those sections to—
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(a) ‘excluding order’ shall be construed and have effect as including a reference to a site excluding order,
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(b) ‘interim excluding order’ shall be construed and have effect as including a reference to an interim site excluding order,
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(c) ‘house’ or ‘housing estate’ shall be construed and have effect as including a reference to a site, and
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(d) ‘tenant’ shall be construed and have effect as including a reference to an authorised person making an application under subsection (1) or referred to in subsection (2)(a).
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(10) Subsections (4), (5) and (8) shall apply to an interim site excluding order as they apply to a site excluding order.
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(11) In this section ‘approved body’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 13(2);”,
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and
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(b) the insertion of the following section after section 14:
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“Authorisation to occupy caravan on site.
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14A.— Notwithstanding anything contained in the Housing Acts, 1966 to 1998, a housing authority may refuse or defer an authorisation to a person to occupy a caravan on a site where—
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(a) the housing authority considers that that person is or has been engaged in anti-social behaviour or that the occupation by that person of a caravan on the site would not be in the interest of good estate management, or
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(b) that person fails to provide information, including information relating to persons residing or to reside with that person, which is requested by the housing authority and which the housing authority considers necessary in respect of the application for such authorisation.”.
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