Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Gogarty for raising this issue, acknowledge the contributions of all speakers and reiterate that the Government is not opposing this motion. There has been significant interest in this motion and it is an area we take very seriously. We are all in agreement about the need to address the root causes and impact of antisocial behaviour. The harm this behaviour causes communities can be significant. As Minister of State with responsibility for international law, law reform and youth justice, I am committed to supporting the Minister and other Government colleagues to continue driving forward the commitments set out by the Government to tackle antisocial behaviour and crime in our communities.

A number of measures are proposed for assessment in this motion that require very careful consideration from a legal and operational point of view. However, the spirit of these suggestions is something on which we can all agree. Nobody should live in fear in their community and this Government is committed to taking appropriate, effective action to address antisocial behaviour. As the Minister highlighted earlier, this Government is actively progressing actions to align with those proposed for assessment in this motion.

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These include measures to further increase An Garda Síochána member and staff numbers, establish local community safety partnerships, continued diversion of young people away from crime, enactment of legislation to combat antisocial behaviour and continued cross-departmental collaboration to tackle underlying causes of antisocial behaviour.

In addition to these I can also assure Deputies numerous other initiatives are being progressed that have as an objective the reduction of antisocial behaviour and that align with the measures proposed in the motion. For instance, the Government has committed to increasing the use of CCTV to enable local authorities to install new CCTV schemes. The Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Act 2023, which was signed into law in December 2023, provides for a new regime for the authorisation and operation of CCTV schemes. There is a new requirement under that Act for the Garda Commissioner to develop a code of practice for CCTV. I am advised by Garda authorities that work is ongoing with respect to the development of this code of practice. Following the publication of the new code of practice local community safety partnerships will be the appropriate avenue for discussion of community CCTV. I am further advised by the Garda authorities that the Garda is currently working on a new CCTV strategy that will outline how CCTV infrastructure utilised by the Garda can be modernised and integrated with other CCTV infrastructure throughout the State. It is hoped the implementation of a modernised CCTV platform for An Garda Síochána can commence in 2026.

I can also assure Deputies the Government is resolute in its commitment to tackle the issue of retail crime and to protecting retail workers, who provide an essential service in our communities. I am acutely aware of the personal and economic impact both physical and verbal assaults have on retail staff and their families. The programme for Government includes the examination of the introduction of a specific offence of an assault on a retail worker. The development of legislation is a complex task that requires consideration of all the potential implications of any change in the law. Work to progress the commitments within the programme for Government has commenced and I am happy to engage in further discussions on proposals for the protection of retail workers.

It is important, in particular in my capacity as the Minister of State with responsibility for youth justice, that I highlight the progress that has been made in implementing actions in the Youth Justice Strategy 2021–2027, which undoubtedly play a positive role in addressing concerns around antisocial behaviour. Diversion continues to be at the core of the youth justice system and its success can be measured through the reduction in the number of young people coming to the attention of An Garda Síochána. The Youth Justice Strategy 2021–2027 has as a priority enhanced engagement and intervention with children and young people who are most at risk of involvement in criminal activity. There is currently a network of 93 youth diversion projects, or YDPs as we call them, operating across the State. Services have expanded to include dedicated early intervention, family support and hard-to-reach youth justice workers. On average YDPs engage between 3,500 and 4,000 young people across the State in any one year. As such, they are a fundamental support to the operation of the statutory Garda diversion programme and provide a vital service in enhancing community policing partnerships. There is a strong evidentiary basis for the effectiveness of our current youth justice regime, with a 2023 evaluation concluding youth diversion projects impact positively on areas linked to reduction of crime and re-offending. Furthermore, since the introduction of the Children Act, recorded criminal offences by people under 18 years of age have reduced by 44%. This reduction correlates with an increased youth diversion budget, which has been doubled from €18 million in 2020 to just over €36 million in 2025. There is a link between youth diversion investment and significant reductions in the number of children being prosecuted or detained. This is testament to the success of youth diversion, as fewer children are progressing to the adult prison system. Our Department is continuing work to enhance the range of interventions applicable to reduction in youth crime, including measures to engage with the harder-to-reach cohort of young people who are actively engaged in criminality, which will in turn make our communities safer.

I will pick up on a number of issues that were raised as part of the debate. Mention was made of the bail supervision scheme. To clarify for the benefit of Members, this is a scheme which is not run by An Garda Síochána. However, it is overseen by our Department. The scheme is carried out by two youth justice service providers, with referrals mostly coming from the courts. The Probation Service will in future take over supervision of that scheme.

Reference was made to the commitment in the programme for Government to a public transportation police service. That is being advanced between the Department of justice and the Department of Transport. The Ministers have had a number of meetings and official engagement between the two Departments is ongoing. That is being advanced and will be delivered early within the lifetime of this Government.

On the ongoing recruitment campaign An Garda Síochána has undertaken, another recruitment drive was announced by the Minister, Deputy O’Callaghan, two days ago at the National Ploughing Championships. I encourage anybody interested in engaging with that campaign to apply. People can apply online. Serving your country and your community through the Garda is a fantastic career and I would encourage anybody to do that. I was delighted to see the increase in the number of people who applied in the last campaign and I am delighted to see an increase in the intake and the output from Templemore of probationer gardaí attesting out of the college and into our communities. In my county of Limerick we recently received 20 new probationer gardaí from Templemore, which was really welcome. Unfortunately that good news was misrepresented, because there is always a city-county dynamic in Limerick and Deputy O’Flynn’s colleague, Deputy O’Donoghue, tried to present it as the city winning over the county. If he bothered to look at the detail, which is very important in these things, he would see when probationer gardaí come to Limerick they go to Henry Street or Roxboro Road. That allows senior Garda management scope to push more experienced gardaí into the county, which is my constituency, to police it. I have confirmed that is happening with senior Garda management in Limerick, so to say Limerick city is benefitting and the county is being left behind or somehow not being significantly policed with the resources the chief superintendent has available to him is simply not true and misrepresents the situation.

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