Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy referred to the very sad death of Mr. Jonathan Corrie earlier this week. I again extend my condolences to his family and friends. clearly, he was a person who was at the centre of a very loving family and a loving and supportive network of relations and friends. We should offer our condolences to them.

The second point made by the Deputy concerned drugs and drug taking. Without doubt, anybody who has lived and spent time in Dublin city centre will know that for a long period of time drugs have posed a very significant problem, including persons who to a degree are in rehabilitation and attending methadone centres. I have met people from the Dublin City Business Association in recent times, including its CEO, Mr. Richard Guiney, who is spearheading the efforts of Dublin city centre retailers and the council to make Dublin city centre a more attractive place. The critical issue relating to the aggressive begging and shoplifting referenced at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality yesterday is that much of this activity is engaged in by people in the city centre with substance abuse problems. The critical issue for An Garda Síochána is the provision of adequate community policing resources.

The Deputy is aware that in recent days the Government gave the go-ahead to introduce a significant Supplementary Estimate for the Garda covering such matters as overtime and investment both this year and next year in the provision of additional resources, including IT and vehicles. The training of the first 100 Garda recruits in Templemore commenced this year and budget 2015 provides for a further complement of gardaí to be trained. As both city centre and suburban Garda stations in Dublin are included in the framework, many of the recruits to be trained will be allocated to stations in the the city centre and the suburbs. I strongly favour a visible Garda presence through a community-based policing force on the streets. When I spoke previously about this matter, I said this was one of the things the Garda was doing in the city centre. Gardaí are calling to premises and homes in both north and south inner city areas. I said this initiative by the Garda had been very well received.

As the independent Garda authority gets under way under the chairmanship of Ms Josephine Feehily who is retiring as chairperson of the Revenue Commissioners, there will be an opportunity to look at policing models to achieve the maximum effect in dealing with street crime and the difficulties the Deputy describes on the streets of Dublin. This should be a priority for the new independent policing authority.

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