Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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48. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality to provide an update on the implementation of the promised reforms relating to antisocial behaviour outlined in the programme for Government; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33988/23]

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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I ask the Minister to provide an update on the implementation of the promised reforms relating to antisocial behaviour outlined in the programme for Government. We are three years into the implementation of the programme. Most of the measures were sensible; some have been implemented or have come close to being implemented. Will the Minister provide an update?

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I assure the Deputy that the Government and I, as Minister, are determined to tackle antisocial behaviour and its causes. Antisocial behaviour, as we know, is a broad term often used to describe a range of actions and behaviours that violate social norms in specific contexts. While it is generally associated with young people, we cannot confine it to young people.

A number of priority actions are contained in the programme for Government and the justice plan for 2023 to reduce instances of such behaviour and to help people be safe and feel safe, be it in their communities or in their homes. We have the setting up of the expert forum on antisocial behaviour, which is chaired by my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Browne; the expansion of youth diversion to the 18 to 24 age group; implementation of the youth justice strategy, which runs from 2021 to 2027; the criminalising of adults who groom children into criminality; and the delivery of a programme to tackle the misuse of scramblers and similar vehicles.

The antisocial behaviour forum, which is chaired, as I said, by the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, is developing measures which will address the factors which give rise to antisocial behaviour and its impact on community morale and quality of life. The forum seeks to avoid duplicating other ongoing work in my Department. Three subgroups of the forum have been established to consider the specific issues of knife crime, the misuse of scramblers and quad bikes, and responses to antisocial behaviour impacts on housing complexes managed by approved housing bodies.

The scrambler subgroup developed a new initiative to support local projects. There was €190,000 allocated last year to assist projects in 2022, with a further €190,000 allocated for this year. Separately, my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, has introduced the Road Traffic and Roads Act 2023, which provides enhanced powers for An Garda Síochána to seize those types of vehicles if used in antisocial behaviour or related criminality.

Through the Youth Justice Strategy 2021-2027, we are broadening and deepening the services right across the youth diversion network. That puts a focus on early intervention. Some of the newer projects have focused on much younger ages, starting from eight years up to 11, as well as expanding and supporting the family support programmes, in particular for those who are at risk, looking also at appropriate education, training and youth services.

I will come back in my second response with details on some of the other areas.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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The motto of the Garda is always to address not only the causes of crime but also the fear of crime. Of great concern in recent months has been the situation on O'Connell Street and serious incidents which have happened on the streets close by. One of our Dublin Deputies told me recently about a bus driver who was badly assaulted, with cuts around his face and neck, when he tried to fight off a robbery attempt. While restraining one attacker, he was set upon by another, who tried to gouge his eye out. Thankfully, he escaped, but he had severe injuries to his head and face. This concern has been raised with me by a few Dublin Deputies and by some bus drivers. Other bus drivers have been assaulted while working around O'Connell Street and similar areas. This needs to be addressed. The programme for Government promises proper community policing. It is not just Dublin where there is a problem with this. It seems that the community police are the first to be cut when there is a recruitment crisis. I am thinking of Killarney, my town, where there is currently no community garda in place.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As I outlined at the outset, this is not just about younger people. I refer to all the measures I have mentioned already, such as the focus on the youth justice strategy and how we can prevent younger people from getting into crime or engaging in this type of antisocial behaviour. It is important that there are deterrents separate from those types of specific programmes, making sure we have enough CCTV. The Bill we will pass tomorrow evening, the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, will resolve some of the issues we have had around the general data protection regulation, GDPR, and the roll-out of community CCTV, which most people in this House have asked for and which I have said I am pleased will be resolved. We will be able to ensure that the local authority, working with An Garda Síochána, will be able to put in place CCTV. It is a matter of making sure gardaí are equipped with body-worn cameras. Again, legislation will progress through this House tomorrow to make sure that gardaí are supported and enabled to deal with difficult situations as they arise, be it in our city centre or elsewhere.

It is also a matter of making sure we have enough gardaí on the ground. We have a new operating model coming into play this year. It will ensure for the first time that all divisional areas have dedicated community policing. Of course, we need to make sure we continue to increase the number of gardaí to populate all the new teams working under that model, but I am absolutely committed to that. I will go into more detail on that matter in answer to the next question.

Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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As I said earlier, the Garda recruitment targets are continually missed. We are faced with a potential net loss of gardaí this year despite the promises of an additional 1,000 officers. The workers and residents in the north inner city deserve better. I hear what the Minister says about the scrambler legislation she has introduced, and I understand that the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill was moved by Government Deputies - in response, it has to be said, to an earlier Private Members' Bill by Deputy Paul Donnelly, Deputy Mark Ward, who is with me here today, and a number of other Sinn Féin Deputies. In addition, I welcome the legislation that is proposed relating to the criminalisation of people who groom children to commit crimes, but again, that was on foot of and followed on from the hard work which was done by more of our Dublin Deputies, not just on tackling crime with legislation. This has been a great disappointment, and I think we can say that there has not been great progress on restorative justice. Dr. Ian Marder, who wrote recently in The Journal, outlined that, excluding the youth diversion programme, there were 713 referrals in 2019 but only 413 in 2020. A proper restorative justice system needs to be introduced as soon as possible.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The work being done across the Department of Justice is not just focused on changing laws, supporting the Garda and the work it does; it also looks at penal policy reform and how we can stop this cycle of reoffending and get to the root causes, and that is about much more than the Garda. We are introducing what are called community safety partnerships. They look at the response to crime and antisocial behaviour in our communities, acknowledging that not just the Garda, the courts and the Prison Service have a role to play, local authorities also have a role. It is about education and bringing community groups together. It is about the community itself identifying what the issues that need to be addressed are and how we can get to the root causes, particularly in communities where there are particular hardships that result in the type of antisocial behaviour and criminality we see.

There is a huge amount of work under way looking at the tough response and making sure that where people commit crimes, there is a sentence to match that, while also acknowledging that for many people in our prisons and in these situations, there are challenges and challenging backgrounds they come from. We need to always try to address the root causes; otherwise we will never stop the cycle of this type of behaviour.