Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to raise this extremely important topic in the Dáil. I mean no offence to the Minister of State, but I am disappointed that the Minister for Justice and Equality who was in the Chamber only half an hour ago has left.

When I saw her on the monitor, I believed that she would be present to listen to my concerns.

Recent years have seen an erosion of the Garda's manpower and resources. Compared with four years ago, there are 1,600 fewer gardaí and 139 stations have closed. In Granard in my constituency, a senior position has remained unfilled for a long time, creating a lack of leadership for stations. Some Garda cars have 300,000 km or 400,000 km on their clocks. I compliment the Garda on the job it is doing in difficult conditions.

I raise this topic in the context of recent bouts of anti-social behaviour in my home town of Mullingar. For the most part, Mullingar is a safe, quiet and well-policed town. We benefit from CCTV, which acts as a deterrent and has helped to solve many crimes. Recently, the town was awarded the internationally recognised purple flag for its level of safety and the manner in which its gardaí respond to incidents.

Unfortunately, the past few months have witnessed a series of substantial anti-social incidents. On the night of St. Patrick's Day, a full street had to be closed. Gardaí were quick to intervene, but three of them were assaulted with one requiring hospital treatment. A number of members of the public were also assaulted. This was the third time that anti-social behaviour emanated from the venue in question. There was a further incident on Easter Monday night, albeit not to the same magnitude, thankfully.

This anti-social behaviour stems from one licensed premises. In recent days, the Garda has secured a temporary closure order against that public house and a number of the individuals involved have been brought before the courts. However, these measures are not strong enough if people can bring a street to a halt and cause serious anxiety among residents and visitors. Businesses that conduct themselves properly have had to close their doors because of the level of anti-social behaviour. All that the legislation enables the Garda to do is to give a slap on the wrist, close the venue's doors for five days and hope that, when they reopen, all will be resolved.

Will the Minister of State inform the Minister that we need stronger and more robust legislation to ensure that there are serious consequences for the sections of our communities that believe they can flagrantly break the law, namely, they might lose their licences and their premises might be closed down? We must send a strong and clear message to the effect that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated. It is not fair on the people living next door. If it not fair on the businesses that are conducting their business appropriately. The reputational damage that such behaviour can do to a town like Mullingar is not fair. At a minimum, will the Minister of State commit to considering legislation so that we might resolve issues such as this? I am sure that similar incidents occur in other provincial towns. When the next batch of Garda recruits graduates from Templemore, Mullingar Garda station should be given priority for additional resources so that people in its community know that this type of behaviour is not tolerated.

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