Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the group for their presentation. I agree with the opening statement that the issue is inter-related with homelessness, as well as alcohol and drug addiction. Before 2011, I was a member of Dublin City Council's city development board. I remember this issue being discussed and some of the witnesses here might have been at those meetings. The question of begging in the city centre was discussed then. We invited the chief superintendent from Store Street Garda station to that meeting because we felt the problem was not being dealt with. I recall the chief superintendent saying that gardaí were reluctant to bring these cases to court because the courts themselves were reluctant to deal with them. That may have concerned the Vagrancy Act, but since then we have seen the Public Order Act 2011, although the witnesses say that has not made much difference either. This is not a new problem.

Have any of the witnesses met senior members of the Garda Síochána at Store Street or Pearse Street? If so, what result did they get from them?