Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Bill. It marks a new departure in policing in Ireland, giving effect to the recommendations made by the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. It provides a comprehensive and robust framework of accountability, governance, oversight of policing and security and a new approach to community safety. The Bill embeds the key principle from the commission's report that preventing crime and harm and making our communities safer does not rest only with An Garda Síochána and the Department of Justice alone but can be most effectively achieved as a whole-of-government responsibility with Departments and agencies involving health, social services, education, local authorities and An Garda Síochána and the wider community working together to prioritise and support the overall objective of safer communities.

The establishment of local safety partnership is welcome. They will develop local safety plans that are tailored to meet the priorities and needs identified by communities themselves. The safety partnerships will provide a new forum for State agencies and local communities and representatives to work together to draw on plans to improve community safety in their areas.

I would like to mention the many voluntary community alert groups that have been up and running for many years. Many such groups stopped because of Covid. This is an opportunity for communities and people to engage with gardaí and get to know them again. I must concur with some of what Deputy Kenny said. Gardaí have got so caught up in the bureaucracy and paperwork that has to be done that they do not have the same opportunity to be on the beat engaging and meeting the community. They would like to do this as much as the communities would like to have them doing it.

The Minister of State, Deputy Browne, recently visited the local youth division in County Monaghan. The opportunities provided by youth divisions are incredible. They really capture those young people who can be very much at risk. They can be vulnerable and easily taken on a path that is life destroying. This type of investment and work with the Minister and the Department is very useful. It certainly supports the work done by the Garda. Hopefully, it means that these young people do not go down a path that leads them further into the criminal system.

I must speak about the situations with drugs. My constituency is not unique in this regard and it is happening nationally. There may be a perception that it is most prevalent in the bigger cities. It is everywhere, including in small communities, parishes and clubs. Young people are being targeted. It is becoming more and more difficult for them to avoid it. I have real concern about this. I see An Garda Síochána doing amazing work on community engagement. This is important because we are back to trying to get gardaí to know their communities and, more importantly, the communities knowing the gardaí. Are we tipping the balance with regard to the importance of this in policing as opposed to the importance of having well-resourced drug units?

We need to tease that out and look very closely at it. We have very frequent joint policing committee meetings and I hear the same thing being raised by colleagues of all parties and none across the House. They see dealing happening on the streets, outside the club grounds and outside the school gates and, God forbid, it could be happening inside the school gates, but it is happening. It is happening in a very visible and tangible way, so communities can see it and there is a fear among communities around that.

I have to tell the Minister that we have seen a huge loss of life of very young people across Cavan in the last 12 months. All of their parents and the local community were very candid and honest, and they spoke bravely about the impact and about drugs being a huge cause of the very high rates of suicide in Cavan and Monaghan. I do not exaggerate that one bit. For people to be that honest takes huge courage and we have to respond to that in a very meaningful way.

We have a very active drugs unit across Cavan and Monaghan. The unit is located in Cootehill, so it straddles both counties very well. I again ask whether we are really putting the emphasis on giving gardaí the resources to do what they need to do. We are all on social media. I frequently see how An Garda Síochána is very good at providing those community engagement opportunities which we see all of the time on the hashtag. That is fabulous. However, I again ask whether the balance is tipping a little bit. I know that needs to be done and it is very important because if we do not get that right, we will not get the information about what is happening on the ground with drugs, but I ask whether we are putting the required resources into the drugs units. There is probably a perception that rural communities are not as susceptible but the drug barons of the world have taken huge advantage and they are in there, destroying lives and communities.

Another opportunity to see that at first hand was when the Minister of State, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, was with us in Cavan on Monday. She brought us all to visit the Cavan and Monaghan Drug and Alcohol Service, where we got a very good briefing from Zoe Wells. One of the services is part of Merchants Quay, and the people there talked about the change in the nature of referrals they are getting in regard to drugs. I want to give some of the statistics around that. There has been a huge increase in cocaine referrals, a huge increase in prescription drugs referrals, an increase in heroin referrals and a 200% increase in street methadone, MTD. All of us in the room were gobsmacked in one sense and, in another, not really surprised. Those are just the referrals and that is not looking at the young people who are being targeted and who are getting hooked and becoming addicts. I believe this Bill provides the opportunity and the necessary supports, and it will again nurture relations with communities and An Garda Síochána to address this.

The Minister spoke at our committee about the new Garda station in Bailieborough, which is welcome. For many years, gardaí were expected to work in deplorable conditions in an old building, so I am very happy to see that. I again ask the Minister to speak with the chief superintendent there, Alan McGovern. He is a great man and he has a huge role and a huge job to do because he is now covering Cavan, Monaghan and Louth. I want to know if there are any specialised units that can come to that Garda station. When I say “specialised units”, perhaps we could ramp up the drugs units in Cavan and Monaghan. I am not sure what the manpower is but whatever it is, they need more. I will conclude on that.

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