Landlords who fail to take action against trouble-making tenants face fines of up to €3,000 under measures due to come into force next month.
The fines will be issued by a State-funded board which will mediate in disputes between landlords and tenants in private rented accommodation.
Neighbours will be able to file complaints to the Private Residential Tenancies Board against landlords who fail to prevent their tenants from engaging in anti-social behaviour.
The board will be authorised to issue fines of up to €3,000 for negligent landlords. If the case goes to court, the landlord may face a prison sentence of up to six months.
The Minister of State for Housing and Urban Renewal, Mr Noel Ahern, said the board would offer a speedy alternative to lengthy disputes which often ended up in court.
"I believe these measures will further assist in preventing the anti-social behaviour by a very small group of tenants in the public and private rented sectors that can blight the lives of so many decent people," Mr Ahern said.
The board will also be charged with resolving disputes between landlords and tenants and will be authorised to award damages of up to €20,000 against tenants who fail to pay their rent.
New measures are also to be introduced to help tackle anti-social behaviour on local authority housing estates.
While local authorities are able to issue exclusion orders against tenants, which prohibit a person from entering a certain area, these powers will now be extended to persons residing with tenant-purchasers.
Mr Ahern said he was responding to frustration among communities and local authorities at how offenders residing with owner-occupiers were escaping prosecution because of a legal loophole.
While Dublin City Council officials yesterday welcomed the move, they expressed concern that such exclusion orders were difficult to police.
"We don't have any power to police them. The only people who can do that are the gardaí. So what happens after an exclusion order is our concern," said Mr Brendan Hayden, an administrative officer in Dublin City Council.
Threshold, the tenant support group, expressed concern that measures aimed at tackling anti-social activity did not provide sufficient alternatives such as mediation.
"We understand people are deeply affected by drug-dealing and teenage crime, but we're not sure fast-track evictions or making people homeless are the answer," a spokesman said.
Threshold said fundamental issues such as lack of recreational facilities should be a priority rather than focusing on heavy-handed penalties.
Local authorities, such as Dublin City Council, said they did not seek such measures lightly.
