Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy mentioned wardens. This was a successful application through the community safety innovation fund where inner-city gardaí went to Derry and looked at how things operated there. These are wardens based on O'Connell Street and surrounding streets who will identify where issues are emerging. They will engage with groups and work with gardaí to try to prevent incidents or support them in stopping them from escalating. I hope we will be able to replicate the many projects that were successful this year as part of the community safety and innovation fund and see them put in use, not just in the areas that were successful but right across the country.

Regarding real-time information, we can look at Operation Citizen, for example. I visited Pearse Street Garda station recently before the gardaí went out on the beat. They are very much working with real-time information. They look at persons of interest, where there were issues the day before, what areas they need to be in in the city centre, who they need to engage with and where there are other people they then need to communicate with. That is a way for the gardaí who are involved in the community safety partnerships, which link in with Dublin City Council, community groups, businesses and others, to communicate and share that real-time information. That is already happening but perhaps there is a more structured way it can be done with other groups.

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