Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter on the Adjournment. I am speaking on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, who is unable to be present. I assure the Deputy that the Tánaiste and I share his concerns about recent incidents in Tralee. Earlier this year the Minster of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Fahey, met Deputies from north Kerry, including Deputy Deenihan, and representatives of the Tralee taxi drivers to discuss this and other matters.

Before commenting on the matter raised by the Deputy, it is helpful to put the issue of crime into perspective. The level of headline crime in 2005 is lower than that for 2002 by 4.4%. Furthermore, in 1995, with a population of almost 3.6 million people, there were 29 crimes per 1,000 of the population, while in 2005, with a population of over 4.1 million, there were 24.6 crimes per 1,000 of the population. The most recent set of quarterly crime figures, for the third quarter, released for the first time by the Central Statistics Office, shows a decrease for the quarter of 1.6%, compared with the same quarter last year.

The Tánaiste is giving the highest priority to providing the resources to the Garda Síochána to tackle and prevent crime. He is very pleased that the personnel strength of all ranks of the Garda Síochána increased to a record 12,762 on 8 September, following the attestation of 249 new members. This compares with a total strength of 10,702 in all ranks at 30 June 1997 and represents an increase of 2,060, or 19%, in the personnel strength of the force during that period. Furthermore, the Garda budget now stands at €1.3 billion, a 13% increase on 2005 and an 85% increase since 1997 in real terms.

The personnel strength of the Kerry division on 25 October this year was 290, while at the end of 1997 it was 230 in all ranks. This represents an increase of 26%, or 60, in the number of personnel allocated. With regard to Tralee Garda station, the personnel strength at the end of 1997 was 76 in all ranks, while on 25 October this year it had reached 95 in all ranks. This represents an increase of 25%, or 19, in the number of personnel allocation.

The current recruitment drive to increase the strength of the Garda Síochána to 14,000 members, in line with the commitment in the agreed programme for Government, is fully on target. This drive will lead to a combined strength, of both attested gardaí and recruits in training, of 14,000 by the end of this year. The first three groups of newly attested gardaí under this accelerated recruitment programme came on stream in March, June and September of this year and the fourth such group will become fully attested members of the force later in the year. Further tranches of approximately 275 newly attested gardaí will follow every 90 days thereafter until the programme is complete. The Garda Commissioner will now draw up plans on how best to distribute and manage these additional resources and in this context the needs of the Kerry division will be given the fullest consideration.

Strong provisions are already in place to combat anti-social and unlawful behaviour. The primary basis for the law regarding public order offences is the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994, which modernised the law in this regard. Furthermore, because of the Tánaiste's concerns about the abuse of alcohol and its contribution to public order offending and broader social problems, he brought forward tough new provisions to deal with alcohol abuse and its effect on public order in the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2003. The Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 2003 provides the Garda Síochána with additional powers to deal with late night street violence and anti-social conduct attributable to excessive drinking.

The Deputy will be aware that the recently enacted Criminal Justice Act 2006 contains an essential updating of our criminal law to ensure that criminal offences can be investigated and prosecuted in a way which is efficient and fair and which meets the needs of modern society. It also contains provisions to deal with anti-social behaviour by adults and juveniles. The Garda Síochána is working on the procedures that will enable the relevant parts of the Act to be commenced in the near future.

The Tánaiste attaches great importance to the development of a real partnership between the Garda Síochána and local authorities on matters affecting policing. His intention and that of the Oireachtas, as set out in the Garda Síochána Act 2005, is that joint policing committees and local policing fora established under them will provide arenas where the Garda Síochána and local authorities can co-operate and work together to address local policing and other issues.

The Tánaiste, with the assistance of the Ministers for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, and the Garda Síochána, has issued guidelines for the operation of a number of joint policing committees on a pilot basis. These committees, which are made up of Oireachtas Members, local authority officials, representatives of local community and voluntary organisations as well as members of the Garda Síochána, are intended to further strengthen connections between gardaí and local communities and improve input from democratic representatives into policing policies. Tralee is included in the pilot phase and I understand that the committee has commenced its work.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that, to date, there have been a total of 16 serious assaults reported in Tralee, 11 of which have been detected. The gardaí expect that further detections will be made, including for recent assaults. I am also informed that in a further effort to address public disorder in the town and reduce the numbers of people leaving licensed premises and food outlets at the same time, special exemptions until 2 a.m. only are now being granted by the District Court for the Tralee area. The CCTV system in place in the town is being reviewed to ensure optimum effectiveness. Additional patrols by uniformed and plain clothes gardaí have also been put in place by local Garda management to address the problems caused by unacceptable behaviour in the town.

Local Garda management will continue to utilise the resources necessary to combat this behaviour. The joint policing committee also has a central role to play in mobilising the local authority and the local community to do their part.

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