Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have been raising the situation regarding crime in Dublin for some time in this House. I think it is fair to say the situation cannot be described as being under control - in fact, it is bordering on being completely out of control. It is not Niall Collins or the Fianna Fáil Party that has been saying this - I have been echoing what people have been saying to me who were making those statements from an informed position. The situation is out of control on a number of levels. We have a gangland problem in the capital associated with serious international criminality and all that flows from it. The situation continues down through the various levels of crime to petty crime, which impacts people every day of the week.

Unfortunately, the response from the Government has been denial. We cannot keep denying that there is a problem in the capital city. Part of the denial response has included the closure of Garda stations, for example in Whitehall and Stepaside, and the downgrading of the station in Santry. That impacted on the communities in those stations' catchment areas. The Government also continued the moratorium on recruitment into An Garda Síochána, which was brought in when this country faced a precipice in late 2008, right throughout 2011, 2012 and 2013. Eventually in 2014 we had a trickle of new recruits into An Garda Síochána.

If the Garda is to get to grips with the situation, the main resource needed is manpower, which it does not have at present. There are 12,799 gardaí in the force as of 1 January this year. That is significantly below the 13,000 that is the preferred level of this Government. Any day of the week, up to 500 gardaí are out sick for various reasons, and that is a reality we have to face up to. Today, there are 1,498 members of An Garda Síochána eligible for retirement and, in addition, there are up to 230 members of the force on an incentivised career break. I know that recruitment has started but we only have 300 in training and we need to see more of that.

I have also consistently raised the need for greater use of and recruitment into the Garda Reserve force. Many people have contacted me who want to become Garda reserves. They have applied online and their applications are sitting in the Public Appointments Service bureaucracy and going nowhere. They are out there and willing to contribute to their communities.

I make these points about Dublin on an informed basis because I have engaged in a series of public meetings. I have been to Ballyfermot and was in Drumcondra two weeks ago; I am going to Tallaght tonight and to Finglas next week. I am meeting people in their communities who have felt the effects of crime. They all say they need to see more gardaí on the street. They want a better response time and to see more done about anti-social behaviour. They also want to see issues like burglaries, which are continuing to rise, addressed. At the root of a lot of the crime faced by these communities is the problem of drugs.

The Irish tourist assistance service reported recently that up to 700 tourists per annum are affected by crime. They reported crimes against their persons, mugging, pickpocketing and theft of wallets and mobile phones. That is a damning indictment because every tourist who comes to this country is taking away a story of his or her experience. As a country that relies on tourism for employment and economic activity, we have to sit up and take note of what they are saying. In particular, we have to take note of associations like the vintners associations, the restaurants associations and traders associations like We Are Dublin Town in the city centre.

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