FAMILIES TORN APART BY TOUGH ANTI-DRUG ACT

Tough anti-drugs legislation is pulling families apart, a conference heard
yesterday. Traumatised parents are being forced to either kick their addict
son or daughter out of the family home or be evicted themselves.

"Parents are having to evict their own children, putting them out on the
streets. This is putting them through unimaginable trauma," said Cathal
Holland, a community development worker in Ballymun, Dublin.

"Families are being torn apart and parents are living with extreme guilt,
because once a kid is put out of the home they are lost to the family."

Speaking at a two-day conference organised by the Citywide Family Support
Network, Mr Holland said parents struggling with addiction were already
carrying an enormous burden.

"They are trying to come to terms with their child's addiction and trying
to access services. This legislation is just pilling misery on top of misery."

Under The Housing Act 1997, local authorities can evict an individual from
their home because of anti-social behaviour, which includes drug dealing.

Mr Holland said the heroin addicts being evicted are low level dealers and
mainly supply drugs in order to feed their habit.

After they're kicked out, the addict, some of whom are as young as 17,
sleep wherever they can, he said.

"They go to B&Bs, sleep in skips, or with friends for a couple of nights.
But they're very vulnerable."

He said eviction should only be used if all other attempts fail.

"It's something that should be used as a last resort, but it's just being
used too quickly and too forcefully."

He pointed out that in Ballymun addicts have to wait six months to get on a
treatment programme.

He said the work of the social inclusion units in Dublin City Council
should be developed more and used as an alternative to evictions.

A spokesman for Dublin City Council explained that there were no figures
for the number of children of parents excluded from corporation flats or
houses.

He said eviction figures only related to those who are the actual legal
tenants, as named in the tenancy agreement - in this case, the parents.

These figures show that three tenants had been evicted so far this year for
anti-social behaviour, compared to 14 in 2001 and 14 in 2000.

He stressed that evictions were only a last resort.

* Families dealing with addiction can ring Philip or Sadie at the Citywide
Family Support Network at 01-8365090.