Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

Anti-social behaviour is a major issue that ought to attract more attention in this House than it does. I regret that we only seem to focus on it following the kind of horrific event that occurred recently in Drimnagh. Anti-social behaviour is a malaise in our society, which mainly afflicts communities in the lower socioeconomic area. Some of the worst affected neighbourhoods attract little attention from this House because the voter turnout is low. Many residents feel alienated from society and these law-abiding citizens bear the brunt of anti-social behaviour in such estates. The effect is debilitating and corrosive, and undermines the quality of life. People trapped in these areas have concluded that nobody in authority cares. It is certainly true that most people in authority do not understand the phenomenon of anti-social behaviour, which is a modern-day sickness.

The problem is not confined to Dublin as it is to be found in every urban area. Taking this city, however, the two Dublins rarely interact. They do not work or play together and, as a result, the policy makers do not focus on the problem and do not understand it. One can see that from the traditional solutions that are trotted out. I do not have any argument with most of the provisions in the Minister's amendment. It is all very well to trot out statistics on the millions being spent and the progress being made, but it is not addressing the root cause of this malaise that is now so endemic in our society. The people affected feel trapped and alienated. They feel there is nowhere to turn.

It seems to me that the anti-social behaviour is spreading into more settled neighbourhoods. The phenomenon of youths congregating, loitering with intent and intimidating local people is routine in parts of urban Ireland. Recent events demonstrate the outcome of anti-social behaviour at its most extreme. The casual and brutal murder of two young Polish men ought to horrify all right-thinking people. The impact of anti-social behaviour is rarely so extreme as we saw recently in Drimnagh. It is regrettable that it takes a case of this gravity, involving an act of such horrific brutality, to get the attention of those in positions of authority. The more routine acts of everyday anti-social behaviour that torture the communities affected, rarely come to public attention. They include the harassment and persecution of vulnerable people, damage to property, intimidation of old people, so-called joy riding and destruction of the local environment. These are everyday experiences in certain urban areas.

Every week I deal routinely with people who are at their wit's end because of anti-social behaviour. Their lives are made a misery by a small number of out-of-control youths. I know of people who have been driven out of their homes or whose cars have been repeatedly damaged by anti-social behaviour. Some people's homes have been broken into for no purpose other than to damage their belongings. I know people who are fearful for their personal safety while walking to or from the bus-stop after dark. I know parents whose children have been beaten up because they are different.

People despair when they hear the Minister say, as he told me yesterday, that "the gardaí are exceptionally visible on the ground". Nothing could be further from the truth and it is dispiriting that the Minister could allow himself to trot out such cavalier assertions. I accept it is not possible to post a garda at every crossroads. No Minister could do that but the fact is that the very areas that most require Garda patrols are those where it is most difficult to find a member of the Garda Síochána.

Community policing is a cosmetic façade as far as the Minister and the Department are concerned. I regret that also seems to be the conclusion of the most senior gardaí. They do not believe in it and have no philosophical conviction behind it. On Question Time yesterday, the Minister said that every garda is a community garda interacting with the community. It is a semantical argument, however, because that is not community policing. Community policing is where gardaí are policing people they know in estates they are familiar with. Community policing is where there is a visible Garda presence that knows the miscreants, has local intelligence, interacts with community leaders and is involved in community organisations. That is the definition of community policing, yet there is no commitment at any senior level to providing it. Without that sort of policing we will have gangs of youths who are out of control, making the local off-licence their focal point and intimidating innocent passers-by.

I do not want to comment on any particular case, but if we have reached the stage where teenagers wantonly attack innocent passers-by to inflict serious injury or death then we have a deep sickness in this society. That malaise is spreading and it will not be addressed by traditional means. In his amendment the Minister faithfully trots out all the traditional responses. I do not take issue with most of them but the point is that they are not working. The Minister can talk about additional resources and the fact that we do not need any more laws. If that is the case, then it is a matter of enforcement. It is a matter of putting more resources into the Garda diversion projects, which have been almost an unmitigated success. It is a question of making a serious commitment to community policing and seeking to deal with the misuse of drugs, the abuse of alcohol and the school drop-out rates in some areas.

Above all, however, people are entitled to protection. These are people who are singled out for persecution and targeted for harassment in their own communities purely because they are different, vulnerable or somehow exposed. I instanced the case some time ago in this House of the night worker whose house is regularly broken into after he leaves for work. The perpetrators know his movements and do unmentionable things in his house. If he stays home to protect his property, his job is at risk. The ultimate solution may be that he must leave the area. That is happening typically in many urban areas. I am glad Fine Gael has put forward this motion. I sincerely hope the present Minister takes this issue more seriously than it has been taken until now.

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