Noisy Neighbour Complaint

Dublin City Council properties

If you have a noisy neighbour who is a tenant of Dublin City Council, the estate manager for your estate will deal with your complaint. Contact them through the Customer Services Department, tel 01 222 2222.

Private occupiers

Domestic and neighbour noise nuisance are not dealt with by the Air Quality Monitoring & Noise Control Unit. There are two main options available to you in order to resolve an issue of this sort.

Mediation

Your complaint may be dealt with through mediation between you and your neighbour. Mediation brings parties together with the aim of resolving conflict away from court. Mediation is impartial, confidential and voluntary and at any time either party may withdraw from the process. The service is available free of charge from the three community services involved. For further information, contact South Dublin Mediation Services at T: 01 4515910, Mediation Northside at T: 01 8482988 (www.nclc.ie) or Mediation Ballymun at T: 01 8625805 (www.bclc.ie).

Section 108 action

Alternatively, you can apply to the District Court for a Court Order under Section 108 of the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992. Contact Áras Úi Dhálaigh (beside the Four Courts, Inns Quay,Dublin), T: 01 888 6000 for advice regarding this option and to be issued with a date for a court hearing.

Typically, if you wish to apply to court, you will have to pay a stamp duty of €22.00 and attend the Dublin Circuit and District Civil Court Office (located on the 1st floor of Áras Úi Dhálaigh) to be issued with your papers. You will receive a date for your court hearing and be given information about serving a copy of the application on your neighbour and about the evidence you must bring with you to the hearing.

Before you engage in mediation or go to court, please note the following:

• You will be required to explain exactly what the noise nuisance is. It can be useful to make a sequential ‘timeline’ of events relating to this complaint and to make brief notes detailing measures, if any, that you have taken to attempt to resolve the matter prior to mediation or a court hearing.
• You should keep copies of any supporting material e.g. letters, which you have sent in order to address the issue previously.
• You should consider what you would like the outcome of the process to be, bearing in mind that in some cases, the noise nuisance cannot be fully eliminated, but that it may be possible to reduce the impact of the noise upon you, e.g. by restricting the times of day that certain activities are carried out.

Private rented dwellings

In this case there are three main options open to you:

1. Under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, all private rented tenancies must be registered with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB), www.rtb.ie. Check that the premises in question is registered with the RTB. If it is, you can make a complaint to the RTB about the noise nuisance. The RTB will require the landlord to enforce the tenant's obligations not to engage in anti-social behaviour. Should the tenants continue to behave in an anti-social way, the landlord is obliged to terminate the tenancy.
2. Engaging in mediation, as detailed above.
3. Taking a private action against the tenants of the house under Section 108 of the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992, through the district court, as detailed above.