Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank our guests for their contributions. I am struck by the words we use when we talk about antisocial behaviour and its presentation within some communities. Everywhere experiences some levels or variations of antisocial behaviour but it is highly concentrated in some communities. Our guests have drawn a direct correlation to poverty, family and safety, but when I think of community safety, I do not think about it only in the context of those who say they are intimidated by others within their communities. I think also about those young men and women who are seen as antisocial and their safety. I would love to explore the degree to which people's perception of intimidation plays into the labelling of people as antisocial. It is relative.

In my community, one woman might be intimidated by 20 lads standing on a corner, whereas I might not be bothered by that at all. If that behaviour keeps being reported such that the lads hanging around are repeatedly moved on, young people will not have a sense of safety themselves or a sense of space. If you come from a community where Garda cars crawl around your estate all day, that in itself feels unsafe for young people and they will respond to that negatively, which can create very negative scenarios and relationships, such as those that have been mentioned.

That in itself feels unsafe for young people. People respond to that negatively, which sometimes creates the negative situations and relationships we have spoken about.

Will Mr. McCarthy talk about the importance of youth work, the intervention of youth work and the advocacy for young people who may be seen as antisocial in the development of all the forums we have spoken about? What do these young people see as safety? How does Mr. McCarthy, as a youth worker, engage with young people and how can the relationship with the Garda be improved? We speak to community gardaí but it would be silly to imagine that community gardaí respond to calls. There is only one community garda in each geographical area. It is usually other gardaí, not the community garda, who intervene and move people on. The relationship with the community garda can be as special as we like but the issue is the Garda institution and how it intervenes.

I ask Mr. McCarthy to speak on the importance of support and addressing some of the class issues that result in antisocial behaviour, which is different from criminality. We need to make that distinction.