Dáil debates
Thursday, 24 October 2019
Saincheisteanna Tráthúla (Atógáil) - Topical Issue Debate (Resumed)
Garda Resources
4:35 pm
Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I had a similar Topical Issue matter last week, where I concentrated on the Dublin South-Central area of the south west inner city. My appeal today concerns the Ballyfermot and Drimnagh areas of Dublin South-Central, of which the south west inner city is a part. Much work has been done by local communities, voluntary groups, Dublin City Council and others over the years to ensure that the disorder in Ballyfermot which had been associated with the Hallowe'en period in the distant past was never repeated. Hallowe'en has been a joyous time for young people and the elderly in Ballyfermot and Cherry Orchard in recent times, but we cannot be complacent as we try to ensure that continues.
Hallowe'en is not just one day. I am also dealing with the run up to it. We need adequate Garda resources - feet on the ground to back up Dublin City Council crews who are removing bonfire material in advance, Dublin City Council clean-up crews and Dublin Fire Brigade and other emergency services who end up tackling dangerous bonfires that often destroy public parks. Ambulances responding to injuries or illnesses have come under attack or have been prevented from going to where they need to be. We have stated repeatedly that we need adequate numbers of gardaí to be on duty to respond if a situation develops, as it did in the distant past in Ballyfermot and the recent past in Drimnagh.
We know from recent court cases that criminal elements can easily use Hallowe'en as a cover for something more sinister. I urge An Garda Síochána to be particularly mindful of that in Ballyfermot this year. My understanding is that a policing plan for Ballyfermot has been submitted to Garda management. This plan is obviously dependent on Garda overtime, which, up to last week, had not been authorised for these policing plans around Hallowe'en. I ask the Minister of State, Deputy Doyle, to ask the Minister for Justice and Equality to get the Minister for Finance to release adequate funding to ensure that the city but particularly the areas I identified this week and last week have sufficient gardaí on the beat to deal with Hallowe'en. I also want the message to go out to the Commissioner that he must authorise these policing plans to ensure that work is done. I want to ensure that this time, the concerns of residents in Ballyfermot and Cherry Orchard are listened to and responded to properly unlike in the past, where sometimes genuine concerns around criminality and antisocial behaviour were ignored in this House and within An Garda Síochána. We need to hear the Minister say loud and clear that our gardaí have adequate budgetary resources to keep communities safe this Hallowe'en.
4:45 pm
Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I am making this statement on behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, who would like to thank the Deputy for raising this matter. In accordance with the Garda Síochána Act 2005, as amended, the Commissioner is responsible for managing and controlling the administration and business of An Garda Síochána. The allocation of Garda resources is also a matter for the Commissioner. The Minister has no role in these matters. The Minister is assured, however, that Garda management keeps the distribution of resources under continual review in the context of crime trends and policing priorities to ensure their optimum use.
The Minister would also point out that it is entirely appropriate for the Commissioner to be in a position to make the detailed judgments necessary about where he puts his resources. That is a policing matter and the judgment of the Commissioner and his management team is key to the delivery of the best possible service to communities nationwide, including the Dublin South Central area.
Although resourcing questions are, accordingly, not for the Minister, he would like to point out that An Garda Síochána is a growing organisation. There are now over 14,200 gardaí nationwide, which is the highest level in over a decade. Since the Garda Training College reopened in 2014, 2,800 new Garda members have attested and have been assigned to front-line policing duties. A further 200 probationers are due to attest next month bringing that total recruitment to around 3,000. Approximately 800 new gardaí were recruited in 2017 and 2018. This year, 600 new gardaí were recruited. For 2020, recruitment of up to 700 gardaí will be possible depending on the Commissioner's decision on how best to balance the number of gardaí and Garda staff.
It must also be borne in mind that this unprecedented volume of recruitment of Garda members has also been accompanied by increasing numbers of Garda civilian staff. Garda members are now supported by over 2,800 Garda staff. In fact, Garda staff numbers have increased by 26% since the end of 2017. This very significant increase is allowing many more highly trained gardaí to return to the front line from administrative duties. The process of civilianisation has already delivered a total of 750 Garda members back to the front line and visible policing duties and this number is also increasing. To take Dublin South Central as an example, there are currently 758 Garda members, which is an increase of 110 from 648 at the end of 2018, while Garda staff total 117, which is a 60% increase on 2018.
This increased recruitment is one of the benefits being brought about through the Government's unprecedented investment in An Garda Síochána. We increased the Garda budget to €1.76 billion for 2019 plus capital investment of €92 million this year, which was a 50% increase on 2018 capital funding. The allocation for 2020 is increasing by a further €122 million to an unprecedented total of €1.88 billion. The capital allocation to An Garda Síochána is also increasing by 26% to a total of €116.5 million. This ongoing investment is with a view to the provision of the best possible policing service to all our communities, rural and urban, including Dublin South Central. We are seeing positive results from these efforts. The Garda Public Attitudes Survey results for quarter two of 2019 published earlier this month showed a welcome continuing reduction in the fear of crime, an increased public awareness of proactive policing and a visible Garda presence in local areas. There is also a lot to welcome in the crime statistics published by the CSO for quarter two of this year. There has been a decrease of over 40% in the number of recorded homicide incidents in the second quarter of 2019 when compared to the same period in 2018 and a decrease of 9.8% in burglary and related offences at the end of quarter two of 2019 when compared to the same period last year.
Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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As I said earlier, my call is for the overtime ban to be lifted. I reiterate my call for gardaí to be on the beat and for a full deployment of gardaí, including the increased number of gardaí that are now available locally. I also want specialist units to be available in Dublin South Central to respond if an incident arises. Hopefully, they will not be required to respond. I am not reassured thus far that the overtime ban has been lifted with regard to the policing plans that have been submitted by the local superintendents to deal with Hallowe'en in Ballyfermot or Drimnagh in particular but also in the south inner city because that has not been communicated to Dublin City Council officials who are trying to put their plan together to remove the material used in bonfires, be it tyres, chemicals or pallets. A total of 175 tonnes of material were removed by Dublin City Council staff in Dublin South Central alone. Hopefully, if the overtime ban is removed and the policing plans get the go ahead, we will see Dublin City Council officials carrying out that work again so they can try to safeguard communities as much as possible so that children, teenagers, adults and senior citizens can all enjoy Hallowe'en properly as it should be and there is no space in any shape or form for criminal elements to use the cover of Hallowe'en to engage in criminal acts against the community.
Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I will take home the message about the Garda overtime ban. As I said, it is a matter for the Commissioner and his team in the first instance but the Deputy has touched on a valid point about the co-ordination that is needed between the various different services, the local authority, the emergency crews and everyone else to prevent and mitigate against any possible outcomes.
On Garda visibility, at certain times the Garda can predict that without gardaí on the street something will happen. For this reason, they need to be in preventative mode rather than dealing with issues after the event. This approach works and speaks to the necessity of having more community-type policing rolled out. I have seen its effectiveness in youth diversion programmes around drug prevention and other temptations.
On the emergency response units, ERUs, while I am unable to clarify the position today, I assume these units are on alert during these periods, especially during the Hallowe'en season and similar times when they may be called into action. Hopefully, that will not be the case or their use will be kept to a bare minimum. I will convey the Deputy's request to the Minister and his officials.