Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply and appreciate his response on an issue I raised previously. That is highly beneficial.

I noted that a lot of young people are being groomed into the drugs industry. They are given electric bikes and then zoom up and down different networks and pathways in the area. I fully believe that those young people are victims. I am not looking for a criminal response but a pathway out of this.

The Minister of State has responsibility for local government. The pitches in Fairview Park come under the auspices of Dublin City Council. Sheriff YC, East Wall Bessborough FC and Belvedere Youth Club are all football teams which have done incredible work over the years in providing outlets for young people who might otherwise be at risk. Their pitches have been destroyed. This issue has captured a lot of attention over the past couple of months. It was initially caused by a car driving through Fairview Park. We then had a couple of different motorbikes in the past couple of weeks. This means that young people, who we are keeping a very tentative hold of, cannot play their games on Sundays. I probably would not have raised this issue if the Minister for Justice had been present but since the Minister of State is here, I ask him to intervene to get those pitches back. That would be brilliant in terms of providing an outlet.

On the issue of improving the aesthetic of the north inner city through the Minister of State's brief, the residents of the streets surrounding Dorset Street consistently highlight the fact that the appearance of Dorset Street creates a sense that nobody is in control. It looks as though it is in decay and lawlessness has been allowed to fester. I ask the Minister of State to speak to Dublin City Council about how to improve that thoroughfare into the city. We should be doing that. People coming into the city from the airport go through the area. All the other streets look much better than Dorset Street. We also need zero tolerance of open drug-dealing and street-drinking. Residents need to feel that when lawlessness and law-breaking occurs, the State has their back by responding in a way that would be viewed as a matter of course in other communities.

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