James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Minister for Justice, I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter on Dublin’s inner city and concerns around public safety. The Minister joins all of the House in condemning all acts of violence, in particular any forms of knife crime, and in wishing the victim of the incident referred to by the Deputy a healthy and speedy recovery. I am informed by the Garda authorities that an investigation is ongoing at this time and the Deputy will appreciate that neither I nor the Minister for Justice can comment on that case as it is an ongoing and live Garda investigation. The Minister and I urge anyone who may have witnessed this attack, or who may have any information of potential interest to An Garda Síochána, to contact the Garda. Reports can also be made through the Garda confidential line on 1800 666 111.

The Government is determined to tackle antisocial and violent behaviour and is conscious of the effect it can have on the quality of life for local communities, including in Dublin's inner city. Both the programme for Government and the justice plan contain a number of commitments in this regard, including the establishment of the expert forum on antisocial behaviour to consider the effectiveness of existing legislation and look at proposals for the way forward. I have established a subgroup of the antisocial behaviour forum to specifically examine the issue of knife crime in detail. This subgroup is assessing available evidence to inform legislation and community safety policies, programmes and practices with regard to knife crime. As the Deputy will be aware, the Youth Justice Strategy 2021-2027 was also launched last year with the immediate priority to enhance engagement with children and young people who are most at risk of involvement in criminal activity, principally by strengthening services available through the existing network of 105 youth diversion projects, a number of which are located in Dublin's inner city and a number of which I have visited in recent months.

It is important to note that policing and crime prevention are not the responsibility of An Garda Síochána and the Department of Justice alone. To achieve better outcomes, supported by a strong inter-agency collaboration and community engagement, three pilot local community safety partnerships have been established, one of which is located in north inner city Dublin.

These partnerships will provide a dedicated communication channel for input and the development of local community safety plans to reflect and respond to the self-identified needs of individual communities. The lessons which are learnt in the north inner city pilot will, of course, be of particular relevance to the future roll-out in the south inner city. In addition, the Minister will launch the community safety innovation fund in the coming weeks, which will enable local communities to seek funding for innovative projects that will improve community safety in their areas.

I am advised by the Garda authorities that Operation Citizen commenced in Dublin city centre on 22 October 2021, focusing on antisocial behaviour, public order and quality-of-life issues, assaults and high-volume crimes, and involves increased visible policing, particularly at key locations. In addition to Garda resources from the Dublin metropolitan region, DMR, north central and south central divisions, Operation Citizen is supported by resources from the wider Dublin region, Garda roads policing units, the Garda national public order unit and Garda operational support units.

In January 2022, the Garda authorities launched Operation Saul to further support, enhance and strengthen the strategic and operational objectives of Operation Citizen. The aim of Operation Saul is to provide a safe environment for commuters utilising public transport services in the DMR. Garda Operation Soteria is also in place to ensure a reduction of assaults in public, reduce the fear of violence within communities, prioritise assault investigations and focus on problem areas and assault hotspots. The Minister wants to assure the Deputy that this combination of targeted Garda operations and Government policy measures are having, and will continue to have, a positive impact on community safety.

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