Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this debate. As my party's spokesperson on Dublin, I welcome the need to improve safety, services and the environment in Dublin city and the wider Dublin region.

Dublin is a world-class city with thousands of years of history and a rich architectural and social culture. Dublin should be a wonderful place to live and visit and most of the time it is. However, as other speakers have said, the welcoming atmosphere of Dublin has been overshadowed by antisocial and criminal behaviour by a small minority. Antisocial and criminal behaviour can have a devastating impact not only on the victims but on communities as well. Incidents of assault or intimidation are completely unacceptable and can never become the norm. We all want people to be safe and feel safe living in the capital city and to be able to enjoy its amenities, activities and surrounds.

Antisocial and criminal behaviour must be tackled with a multi-agency approach. We have heard many suggestions in this debate about how that can be done. Some Deputies have suggested it is for local government and others that it is for State agencies along with Departments. It will be for a myriad of those and more. Stakeholders include businesses as well as the local community themselves. I agree the current structures of Dublin are not working. There needs to be structural reform of local government, policing and other agencies to make them more effective.

Fianna Fáil recently conducted a survey to assess the impact of antisocial and criminal behaviour on public transport users. We received 1,395 submissions. Some 83% of respondents indicated they did not feel safe on public transport. Taxis were perceived to be the safest form of public transport, with 60% of people who answered the question indicating they felt safe. The Luas was perceived to be the least safe mode of public transport with 49.8% of respondents indicating they did not consider it safe. The proportion of participants who indicated they had witnessed antisocial behaviour on public transport was 93%, with 53% indicating it was a regular occurrence. Some 26.4% of respondents reported incidents of antisocial behaviour but only 3.6% received a follow-up. This suggests 96% of those incidents went unreported. The proportion of participants who indicated they had been a victim of antisocial behaviour on public transport was 36%. That is a shocking figure for the level of public transport crime and intimidation.

Some 78% of respondents indicated they favoured a dedicated Garda public transport unit and I support this too. A number of other Deputies indicated the same earlier, which is welcome. It seems there is going to unanimous support for this measure in the House. Garda members patrolling public transport services, particularly around hotspots of antisocial and criminal activity, would act as a deterrent, just as it does in other European cities. Many of those cities have dedicated public transport police units. The UK operates the British Transport Police, which is primarily funded by the public transport providers. I do not favour that model. The unit we are talking about should be a dedicated unit of An Garda Síochána.

We recently met the new Garda assistant commissioner for the Dublin metropolitan region, Angela Willis, to discuss the results of the survey and the general issue of anti-social behaviour in the capital. She agreed high-visibility policing is crucial and briefed us on her plans to expand that operation. That expansion has been announced in the form of Operation Citizen, which is very welcome. It involves targeting certain hotspots within the city, as well as reopening a Garda station presence on O'Connell Street that is set to be dedicated to the operation.

The €5 million additional funding for Garda overtime provided by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, in budget 2023 will support the expansion of high-visibility policing. However, there must also be a focus on community policing and youth diversion projects. The Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, visited our local youth diversion project in Loughlinstown. These projects and their workers and volunteers are critical tools to support young people. Local sports clubs also play a critical role in supporting young people. I mention Monkstown Boxing Club. It was in the news recently because it had issues accessing its own training facilities in a community centre run by the council. I pay tribute to JP, Tommy, James, Darren and many others in the club who have brought it from strength to strength over the last number of years. The Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, recently allocated significant grant funding to help clubs like Monkstown, but there needs to be urgent progress from Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to ensure the club facility is built. Local representatives such as my colleague, Councillor Justin Moylan, will work closely with the club and officials to prevent that reoccurrence.

I met Dublin Chamber earlier to discuss the issues its members perceive to be prominent within Dublin city and the greater Dublin area. There are challenges around the public realm. We saw many of these during the pandemic in particular. There is a lack of amenities in the core of the city centre, there are transport issues and crime, there is the night-time economy and the challenges it presents for businesses, shift workers and others and then there is planning and housing. There are a plethora of issues we could discuss. I do not want to be negative about Dublin city. There has been so much positive reform of the heart of the city but we as legislators must ensure we play our part in this Chamber, along with our colleagues on the council, to ensure the development plan is fit for purpose, enhances the city centre and makes it a more vibrant and inviting place than the headlines might lead you to believe. On the public realm, we have unfortunately seen an epidemic of plastic street clutter since the pandemic. The latter has brought its own challenges, especially when you look at the condition of some roads and footpaths that have fallen into disrepair. Local authorities must play their role in ensuring the rich architectural environment of our city, and indeed our county, are maintained.

The Cathaoirleach Gníomhach and other Deputies mentioned the problems with taxis. Difficulties with Free Now and the lack of availability of taxis are real issues facing the city centre and have been going on for months. As we head into the Christmas period, nobody wants to see people being stranded. The Cathaoirleach Gníomhach highlighted the particular issues with females feeling unsafe in the city and if there are no taxis available that presents its own challenges and must be avoided. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, for being here for the debate and ask him to raise that with his colleagues at the Department of Transport. It is a very important issue.

There are many issues we wish to see addressed for Dublin city. As I said, I do not want to be negative and there have been plenty of good things done and good initiatives taken. During Hallowe'en we saw various initiatives being undertaken by the city council to encourage good community spirit and a positive experience of Hallowe'en. That is to be welcomed and applauded. It needs to be expanded across all other local authorities. This debate is welcome and timely, given the challenges we have faced in the city and greater Dublin area over the last while. I ask the Minister of State to raise those various issues with his colleagues in the Government.

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