John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy David Stanton, and thank him for his presence but I would obviously have preferred the senior Minister to be here to respond. If the Minister of State can provide it, I am looking for some hard information and facts regarding recent assaults in the Rathfarnham, Knocklyon and Ballycullen areas of my constituency in Dublin South-West. The first assault took place in the early afternoon of 18 June in broad daylight in the Stocking Avenue area of Rathfarnham. The assault was on a woman who was out walking. The general area is a popular one with walkers as it provides a ready-made circuit from many neighbouring housing estates and it grants easy access to the Dublin Mountains as well.

It is incredibly rare that such an occurrence would take place, hence the reason for me raising it in the House as a Topical Issue. I made contact ten days ago with the Garda at Rathfarnham and the inspector there was very helpful. He assured me that additional community Garda patrols, along with plain clothes detective patrols, had been deployed in the area, and that the gardaí both at Rathfarnham and Tallaght, which is the district headquarters, were taking the issue very seriously. Given the pressure on Garda resources, that was very much appreciated by the local community. That said, contrary views were expressed on whether the presence actually manifested throughout the community. Some were aware of the increased Garda presence and were very much appreciative of it but others said there was no evidence of an increased Garda presence.

I am aware from contact with the inspector at Rathfarnham Garda station that the issue was given high priority. The Garda helicopter was involved in searching on the Monday night following the assault. As I am sure the Minister of State will appreciate, just the presence of the helicopter increases anxiety even though it is not uncommon to have it along the M50 corridor. Its presence heightened the fears of local people.

Social media is a very useful tool for communications between individuals and groups and there is a high usage of social media in the area by both residents' associations and individuals to alert each other to suspicious activity. That was very useful in 2015 and 2016 in particular when there was a spike in burglaries. Equally, social media can be a terrible rumour mill and it can sometimes be very difficult to separate fact from rumour, which is another reason for me to raise the issue.

Last weekend there was also an alleged incident in the grounds of the Pearse Museum at Rathfarnham, otherwise known as St. Enda's Park, again, within the jurisdiction of Rathfarnham Garda station. I have written to the superintendent in Tallaght and have contacted the inspector at Rathfarnham again as I am seeking some hard information on the number of attacks in the area; the Garda response; details regarding Garda numbers in the area and the resources being devoted to that; the Garda plan to address the issue and if the plan is meeting with success. In other words, do the Garda believe it is a question of one suspect or two and how many attacks have taken place or were reported to the Garda? I would welcome a response to those questions from the Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality, Deputy Stanton. Local people definitely want some answers to the questions because the occurrence is so unusual. I will refer to some other points in due course.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I am speaking on behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality who regrets that he cannot be present due to other official commitments. He is grateful to the Deputy for raising this matter in the House.

The Minister is aware of recent reports about serious assaults occurring in the Rathfarnham area. Such crimes are of course very shocking and, clearly, they have a strong impact on the local community, both in terms of the fear of crime in the area and overall community morale, as pointed out by Deputy Lahart.

I hope the Deputy will appreciate that the policing response to such crimes, including the deployment of Garda resources at local level, is a matter for the Garda authorities in the first instance. In that regard, I am sure the Deputy will understand that it would be inappropriate to enter into any detailed discussion of particular incidents which may be the subject of an ongoing investigation by An Garda Síochána.

However, the Minister is advised that Garda management carefully monitors the incidence of crime in local areas and that Garda resources are deployed in response to changing crime trends. That may include overt high visibility patrolling as well as covert Garda operations to target particular situations or persons suspected of engaging in criminal activity. At the heart of the concerns about such crimes is the relationship between communities and their local gardaí. It is worth recalling that A Programme for a Partnership Government underlines the importance of community policing in responding to the concerns and expectation of both urban and rural communities.

The Minister is advised that it remains a key priority for An Garda Síochána to tackle public disorder and anti-social behaviour by working with communities to reduce this type of behaviour and to enhance community safety. The approach includes a strong focus on quality-of-life issues and collaboration with local authorities to help address the causes of anti-social behaviour. The Garda engages in a range of partnership approaches with communities to address local concerns as well as participating in more formal structures such as joint policing committees which have an important role in developing strategies to tackle issues of local concern.

For its part, the Government remains committed to supporting An Garda Síochána in tackling crime and protecting communities. Under the Government's Capital Plan 2016-2021, €46 million is being invested in a modern, effective and fit-for-purpose Garda fleet. In 2016 alone, some 520 new vehicles came on-stream to ensure that the Garda is mobile, visible and responsive on the roads and in the community to prevent and tackle crime. Furthermore, some €330 million, including €205 million under the capital plan, is being invested in Garda ICT infrastructure to allow the Garda to deploy the latest cutting-edge technologies in responding to crime in all its forms.

In particular, the Government is pursuing its plans to increase Garda numbers and provide enhanced front-line policing. Plans are in place to achieve a Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising 15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Garda reservists and 4,000 civilians. All of those measures will undoubtedly enhance policing responses to crime incidents and benefit all communities across the country.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for the response but it is very disheartening as there was no mention of the number of assaults reported. I accept there was an acknowledgement at the start of the reply of the awareness of the Minister, but there is no indication that he has even made contact with the Commissioner's office to find out some basic statistics, which is what I have been trying to ascertain in order to instil some kind of confidence in the local community, as getting hard facts is the only way to combat rumours.

Some sections of the community in Ballycullen, Knocklyon and Rathfarnham believe the number of assaults is greater than it is. In the area I represent such assaults are so rare that to have even one creates a great deal of anxiety. A Member of one of these Houses lives in the locality, who is afraid to walk that circuit since the incident happened. The Minister of State should tell his senior Minister that I am very disappointed with the amount of information that has been provided, given the specific nature and location that I indicated in outlining the matter.

As the Deputy for the area, I have never received as many queries on an issue, in particular from young women and young mothers who feel especially vulnerable as they walk the exercise circuit in the area in the summer months. The response outlined by the Minister of State gives me no reassurance or details on the specific Garda response to the incidents. As the Minister of State is aware, the number of gardaí has dropped in every division in Dublin but I do not seek to raise that specific issue, what I am seeking is details on whether the patrols have been increased and for how long that will happen, whether a suspect or suspects have been identified and the number of assaults that have taken place. The Minister of State has given me none of that information. That reflects badly on the kind of feedback and information that is provided to public representatives either here or on the ground in the Garda division concerned. It is very difficult for a public representative to get information that might help to calm a situation, which is the specific issue I wish to raise.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Lahart for his response. If he is looking for specific information I invite him either to contact the local Garda station directly and speak to the superintendent-----

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Which I have done.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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-----or table a specific parliamentary question on the issue.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I could not have been more specific.

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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I was asked to come to the House to discuss assaults on the public in the Rathfarnham Garda district, which I have done. I was not asked to provide any specific information. If I had been I would have done my best to supply it. We were not asked those questions initially. However, I thank the Deputy for providing the opportunity to have this important debate. The fact that the issue is raised here does raise its profile in the Department, with the Minister and others, so the Deputy has provided a good service in doing that. I am very happy to pass on his comments to the Minister.

I have dealt in general terms in the response to the crimes and I hope that has been of some help. It is important that we have a general national policy on such issues. However, if the Deputy has more specific concerns the Minister has asked me to say he will be happy to bring them to the attention of the Garda authorities. I invite the Deputy to write to me or the senior Minister with his specific questions and concerns and we will be happy to follow them up, as we have done in the past.

As I have already said, the immediate responses to crime incidents are clearly a matter for local Garda management. We cannot interfere in that. It is clearly a matter for them, and as the Deputy himself has said, they are helpful and professional and they go with their job as best they can.

That being said, the Government is determined that every appropriate support will be provided to assist local gardaí in confronting crime and in protecting communities. I have outlined the huge increase in spending for the recruitment drive that is ongoing, the increase in spending for vehicles and for information and communications technology etc. The Deputy mentioned that the Garda helicopter was available and was in the area. He has actually outlined that there was visible evidence of increased activity. I am sure there are overt and covert operations happening. The gardaí are very professional in dealing with these. The Minister and I are very anxious to be of any assistance to any public representative who brings concerns of this nature to the House.