Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the opportunity to raise this important issue and the Ceann Comhairle's decision to select it. I thank the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Deputy James Browne, for staying so late on a Thursday. As the Minister of State will be aware, in recent days, we have seen an increased amount of footage online and our offices are receiving an increase in reports showing a worrying rise in criminal activity, especially in Dublin city centre. We need to respond to this with a high-visibility policing presence, not just in the our capital city but throughout the country. I have been calling for this for months and I have had wonderful interaction on it with the Minister of State, the Minister for Justice, Deputy Humphreys, and previously, the Minister, Deputy McEntee. I am not calling for this for the sake of it but because it is working in the parts of the country adopting it.

I attended a meeting of the joint policing committee in my area, which is covered by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, the other week. The statistics released by the chief superintendent are telling. Where the level of patrolling in public places has increased, burglaries have reduced by 53% compared with last year, theft is down 23%, robberies have declined by 37% and bike and vehicle theft by 32% and 48%, respectively. Incidents involving antisocial behaviour and assaults have also declined, as have other crimes. The mountain bike unit has also been strengthened with eight additional gardaí, which is very important, especially in the mountainous region and parklands, given that people have been spending much more time in open spaces in recent months.

If we are to prevent scenes such as those circulating on social media and the reports coming into our offices, we need gardaí on our streets. It is what gardaí want to do. We need administrative civilian staff hired to allow our gardaí to get out on the street and provide peace of mind. Before this debate, I took a walk from Kildare Street to Parnell Square via the main thoroughfare of our capital city, O'Connell Street, during which I saw one member of An Garda Síochána on patrol. That is simply not good enough. It does not provide a sense of security or well-being. We have to ensure the new rostering arrangements that worked so well are put in place and the demands of the public and gardaí are met by management. We must have a high-level, high-visibility policing presence across our main thoroughfares. That will act as a deterrent and see early intervention in crimes.

We are seeing an undoubted, well-documented increase in the number of attacks on people from racial minorities. We have seen homophobic attacks and attacks on women. We all listened intently and with deep sadness to the details of a chilling trial in the United Kingdom, which led to Sarah Everard's murderer being put in prison for the rest of his life, and rightly so. That is why we look to An Garda Síochána to provide a sense of security. I call for the Minister of State to work with the Garda Commissioner and others to ensure we have a strong Garda presence on our streets and crack down as we reopen our society and economy in order that people - men, women and children - can feel safe walking the streets, day or night.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Richmond for raising this important matter. I assure the Deputy that the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and I are aware of the effects of antisocial behaviour on our communities. We are also both aware of the importance of high-visibility policing and know people feel safe when they see the presence of An Garda Síochána in our towns and cities. The Minister met senior members of An Garda Síochána in Dublin City, as recently as last week, to discuss the issue raised by the Deputy. She also met representatives of businesses in Dublin city centre, as well as local representatives, to hear their concerns. The Minister and I will be in regular contact with An Garda Síochána, as we progress through the autumn and winter, to ensure actions are taken and people feel safe, not only in Dublin city but in towns throughout Ireland.

I assure the Deputy that the Government is committed to ensuring more visibility in our communities. The Deputy will be aware that An Garda Síochána was provided with an unprecedented budget of €1.952 billion for 2021. This sustained level of investment is allowing ongoing recruitment of both members and staff to An Garda Síochána. As a result, there are now approximately 14,500 Garda members and more than 3,000 Garda staff.

The programme for Government and the Justice Plan 2021 contain a range of priority commitments and actions to support visible policing countrywide, chief of which is the implementation of the report on the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland through the Government's implementation plan, A Policing Service for our Future. The roll-out of the new Garda operating model under A Policing Service for our Future will deliver increased Garda visibility in communities, while facilitating a wider range of locally-delivered policing services underpinned by the redeployment of An Garda Síochána from non-core duties to front-line policing throughout the country.

Visible policing means safer communities that can feel supported in daily life. The benefits of effective Garda resources at community level can be felt by each and every one of us. Community safety is a cornerstone of An Garda Síochána’s transformation programme. Indeed, it has always been the primary focus of An Garda Síochána. This has been particularly evident during the Covid-19 period, when gardaí across the country consolidated their connection with local communities and were truly present during an unprecedented crisis.

Of course, keeping communities safe is not just about Garda numbers. The Government also recognises the need to strengthen and support community engagement services. This is central to comprehensive community safety policy, which is being developed by the Department of Justice. To this end, three pilot local community safety partnerships have been set up - one in Dublin's inner city, one in Longford and one in Waterford. These will run for the next two years ahead of a nationwide roll-out to all local authority areas. The new partnerships will bring together State agencies, including An Garda Síochána, local authorities, community groups and representatives to devise community safety plans that are tailored to the local needs of those communities.

The Deputy will appreciate that, by law, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána, including personnel matters and deployment of resources. The allocation of Garda resources is made in light of the identified operational demand. This includes deployment of personnel among the various Garda divisions. Neither the Minister nor I have any direct role in the deployment of Garda resources.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Minister of State’s fulsome reply. I also appreciate the ongoing work of the Minister of State, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, particularly in the context of the recent engagement with various community, policing and business fora. However, people want to see direct action. They want to see the gardaí on the street. They want to feel safe walking down O'Connell street. They want to feel safe allowing their children - maybe not their young children, but their adult children - to be out at night as our communities and economy open up. I fully take on board the Minister of State’s point that the responsibility lies with the Garda Commissioner, and rightly so. That separation is extremely important.

Budget day is approaching. The Minister of State referred to last year’s financial allocation, which was welcome. It was a huge increase under Minister, Deputy McEntee. However, we need to see that maintained in order to allow the Commissioner to have the resources to follow a fulsome strategy that can provide confidence in every member of public in our capital city, in our major towns and in our villages to know that the streets that they will walk down will have a Garda presence and that gardaí in their duties. We need to maintain Garda numbers and the necessary level of resources - the, bikes, vehicles, stab vests, ICT infrastructure, etc. - in order that when crimes are reported, victims are not obliged to wait many weeks for an acknowledgement. Gardaí need to be freed up from administrative duties in order that they can police.

The second point of vital importance goes beyond policing. It relates to engagement with the community. It is important that the Minister of State and the Minister work in conjunction with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, in respect of the new community safety fund. More than €16 million in cash was seized from criminals. That money needs to be ploughed back into communities and into resources in order to keep people away from criminality. We must ensure that the resources are there to address worrying problems such as knife crime, drug crime, organised crime or the racial and gender-based attacks that we have seen in recent weeks.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Richmond for raising this important issue. I know he has been consistent in raising his concerns about this matter. He is 100% right. We need to have clear engagement with communities around ensuring Garda presence and Garda involvement in communities. As the Deputy correctly pointed out, the community safety fund is important. Under the fund, the money taken from those who benefit from crime will be put back into the communities that are most deeply affected by those criminal elements. The new community policing strategy will also have an important role in bringing communities together to design safety plans and plans for Garda deployment that are tailored towards those communities. The Deputy will appreciate that those in local and senior Garda management are consulted during the allocation of personnel and are responsible for specific deployment or assignment of duties being undertaken at a divisional level.

An Garda Síochána continues to implement high-visibility policing plans to address public disorder-related issues and antisocial behaviour with particular overt and targeted policing of public places at times where public order incidents and antisocial behaviour typically increase. An Garda Síochána also rolls out information relating to policing operations on an ongoing basis in response to specific incidents of antisocial behaviour.

The Government remains steadfast in its commitment to enhancing community safety and supporting the valuable work of An Garda Síochána to this end. The publication of the landmark policing community safety legislation by the Minister for Justice earlier this year is significant in that the need for a cross-agency approach to community safety in partnership with local communities will be recognised in statute for the first time..