Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy is aware, arising from discussions with community representatives from Dublin north-east inner city involving the Taoiseach, myself and other Ministers, a ministerial task force, chaired by the Taoiseach, has been established with a focus on the economic and social regeneration of the area. Mr. Kieran Mulvey has been appointed to prepare a report to inform the work of the task force and he is engaging with a wide range of local stakeholders in this regard. He will attend the crime forum being held today or tomorrow.

The ministerial task force is considering a very broad range of issues and my Department will play a full role in supporting that work, including in relation to community policing in the area and the provision of Garda resources. The Deputy will be aware of the Garda resources currently being made available following a number of shocking gun murders in the early part of this year and a series of policing and legislative measures has been put in place. Recruitment has been made to the armed support unit, which attracted huge interest from members of An Garda Síochána. Training has begun and people have been identified so there is very significant extra Garda resources and my Department has been involved with the Garda Commissioner to ensure we have the policing and legislative framework we need. We passed legislation in this House recently to support the work of the Criminal Assets Bureau and that will play out in the work the gardaí do in this area.

The current set of initiatives in the north-east inner city are aimed at improving the quality of life for local communities and effective community policing is an important part of that, as is engagement between local gardaí and the people they serve. It is obvious from the meetings I have attended in the north-east inner city what the relationship is between the community and the local police - it is extremely good. Every leader in the community said the same thing but criminal gangs are intent on revenge and retaliation and are very demanding on the resources we need to interrupt that cycle.

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