Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)

-----and it would be inappropriate for a Minister for justice to do so. The Garda Commissioner does take into account what the operational needs are in certain areas, and that is why he decides where the new recruits should be allocated. We will all work together to ensure we can get more gardaí into our communities.

It is also important to point out that the 2025 budget provided an unprecedented allocation of over €2.48 billion to An Garda Síochána. This is a 27% increase since 2020. The funding allows for the continued recruitment of gardaí. As I said, at present we have approximately 14,276 gardaí. The Deputy is right that we need to get them out into the community. Part of the way we can achieve that is by recruiting more civilian staff into the force to do the work that can be done by civilians. At present there are 3,675 civilian staff in An Garda Síochána. We have also made changes by increasing the age at which people can be recruited into An Garda Síochána. It used to be the case that a person had to be under 35. Now a person can apply for the job up to the age of 50 and we have extended mandatory retirement to 62. A new Garda recruitment campaign was launched at the Ploughing Championships by the Garda Commissioner and me on Tuesday. I would ask people to consider a career in the force. It is a very worthwhile career. It is a job in the public service and when people join the force, they very much enjoy it.

Other things that are being done include the establishment of community safety partnerships and increasing the community safety innovation fund to support that roll-out. People will be aware that under the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024, there will be 36 local community safety partnerships. These will play a central role in ensuring that local communities and the Garda are informed about where resources need to be targeted in order to confront antisocial behaviour. Members here will be aware of the community safety fund. It is a very significant asset. In 2024, over €3 million was allocated to projects nationwide. Themes from the 2024 successful applicants included projects aimed at addressing antisocial behaviour, domestic violence, drug-related intimidation and social inclusion.

I believe it was Deputy Fitzmaurice who mentioned that we need youth diversion programmes. One of the things I have noticed since I became the Minister for justice is all the excellent work being done in youth diversion programmes, and there is a lot of excellent work being done by the Probation Service. They probably do not publicise it enough - we do not get to hear about it enough - but a huge number of young people who get involved in the pathway of antisocial behaviour or criminal activity are diverted from it by the youth diversion initiatives. The Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, is beside me here and he plays a very central role in respect of that. A suite of interventions is available within the system, ranging from engagement with the diversion projects to the bail supervision scheme, the young person's probation and community sanctions. The Government has committed to a review of the Children Act. One of the many things mentioned here related to imposing responsibilities on the parents to a greater extent. Section 98 of the Children Act 2001 provides for a whole variety of sanctions that can be imposed by a court on children who are offenders and on the parents of those children as well. I am asking my Department to look at this again to ensure that the courts are aware and do in fact have a range of options available to them.

It is important to note that the Department funds 93 youth diversion projects that are community-based multi-agency youth crime prevention initiatives designed to divert young people who have been, or are at risk of becoming, involved in antisocial behaviour. By the end of this year, once we introduce the youth diversion projects in north Tipperary and east Clare, there will be full coverage of youth diversion projects across the country. This will be a significant achievement. I am aware that Members rightly want to focus on the antisocial behaviour and criminal activity of a small group, but there is availability there to resolve it by trying to get those kids into youth diversion programmes.

Deputy Fitzmaurice is right about local gardaí, and I think Deputy Collins said this as well, who play a central role. Having been in the job for nearly eight months now, my assessment of An Garda Síochána is that they do have this local knowledge. In places I go around the country, to Garda stations in Ballylinan, Carlow or Gorey, the gardaí have a good local knowledge. Community gardaí are a bit like a very successful local politician; they know their community and do their work on the ground. The youth diversion projects also work with schools and local communities. My Department liaises with the Department of Education and Youth to promote initiatives that encourage pro-social behaviour among our young people.

Almost €48 million was allocated under the UBU Your Place Your Space scheme in 2024. Budget 2025 secured an increase of 7%, so the funding is now €50.7 million. Money and resources are being allocated to deal with these children who are involved in antisocial behaviour.

I also take into account what Deputy Gogarty said about further legislation. There is a lot of legislation on the book at present to deal with this type of antisocial behaviour, whether it is the Criminal Damage Act 1991, the public order Act 1994, the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 or the theft and fraud Act. There are mechanisms available. If further legislative intervention is required, we will consider it. We do have to recognise, however, that this is a complex issue to respond to. I welcome the fact we are debating it here but we need that broader approach of education, policing and trying to get parents involved to ensure that we do not get young people on the path to criminality. The Minister of State, Deputy Collins, will stay here to deal with any responses.

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