Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I cannot help but acknowledge that there is no representative from the Department of Justice here. This is probably the third time I have raised a Topical Issue on the issue of safety in and around Dublin city centre and neither of those-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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If a Deputy is unhappy and wants the Minister from a particular Department to be present, the Department is supposed to liaise with Deputies and if a Deputy indicates to it that he or she is not happy and wants to wait until the Minister is available, we will always facilitate that.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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Absolutely but it is also important to put on record that I received a communication from the Department of Justice that did not offer a change. The Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, will do in terms of dealing with this issue because there is an immediacy to it. I want to discuss chronic law-breaking not just in the north inner city of Dublin because it is wider than that. I will break it down to be a bit more specific. Like most people around the Chamber, I am spending most evenings knocking on doors and talking to people in the run-up to the referendums and the local elections. The issue that comes up consistently is the issue of law-breaking, open drug-dealing, antisocial behaviour and the feeling that this has no consequences.

It takes a multitude of different forms. When I am up around Dominick Street, the issue is people hanging around the Luas stop, jumping on the Luas trams, snatching phones, jumping off at the next stop and moving on and people attacking students around the DIT campus. On Dorset Street, which is a gateway to the city, there is a high level of dereliction, an issue that comes under the brief of the Minister of State. With regard to the laneways off Dorset Street, there is a feeling that there is an acceptance that drug dealing will happen there without any degree of enforcement. If I move down towards the Royal Canal way that goes into the IFSC, this beautiful renovation undertaken by Dublin City Council in the past number of years has become a no-go zone. It is a place where you will see any number of predominantly younger children, who themselves are victimised by being brought into this trade, flying up and down on scooters delivering different packages from one end to the next to the detriment of people's safety in the area. Up in Hardwicke Street, there is also the belief that open drug-dealing is being tolerated. I am certainly not the first to say that in this Chamber over the past four decades.

There is a belief among the residential communities in the north inner city that what is happening happens without consequence. I do not doubt for a second that there has been a large increase in the number of gardaí in the commercial city centre, which is really welcome because people have to go about their business there. However, the residents of that environment obviously do not feel that their minimum expectation of being able to open their door and go about their day feeling safe has been met. That is really frustrating. I do not for a second believe there is only a policing solution to this issue. I think it is far more complex but in the immediate term, people just want to know that if they call An Garda Síochána, a garda will turn up and that they can go about their day without seeing people in a chronic condition of chaos, which also seems to be tolerated. That is the problem. Wherever I go knocking on doors around the north inner city, people highlight the feeling of being unsafe and that is because they are unsafe.

Beyond that, there is a core belief that the authorities and indeed the State do not have these people's back. They rightly say that what is tolerated in the north inner city would not be tolerated in any other part of the city or country. When I attended a meeting of residents in Dorset Street a couple of weeks ago, they highlighted the dereliction, the decay, the absence of lighting and the poor visibility on the laneways. They made a comparison between Dorset Street and other arteries into the city such as Ranelagh where the sequence of streets is almost the exact same but where there is a world of difference regarding what is tolerated. Once again, I have come in pursuing answers and I hope the Minister of State can give them to me. We need a greater degree of action.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee. I thank Deputy Gannon for raising it. In fairness to the Deputy, he has raised it on many occasions.

As the Deputy may be aware, the Government's approach to the misuse of drugs is set out in Ireland's national drug strategy, Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery. This is a health-led approach to drug and alcohol use in Ireland and it represents a whole-of-government response to reduce demand and associated harm. The Government is also committed to limiting access to illegal drugs to the greatest extent possible.

At a local level, An Garda Síochána continues to target those involved in the sale and supply of illegal drugs through Operation Tara. Operation Tara, which has a strong focus on tackling street-level dealing across the country, also seeks to disrupt and dismantle the drug trafficking networks that impact on our communities and prosecute those involved at every level. Recent successes of Operation Tara include the seizure of €500,000 worth of drugs in County Kildare on 5 January, €235,000 worth of heroin in Dublin and Meath on 3 January and a further €80,000 worth of various drugs in Dublin on 16 January.

Let us also not forget that in 2023, Ireland saw the largest drug seizure in our history when a vessel carrying a significant quantity of controlled drugs was intercepted off the southern coast. These drugs were almost certainly destined for the Irish market but, thankfully, the vessel was intercepted and the drugs seized before they reached our communities.

More generally, An Garda Síochána has received an unprecedented budget of over €2.35 billion for 2024, including provision for the recruitment of between 800 and 1,000 gardaí. The Garda Commissioner has assured the Minister, Deputy McEntee, that whatever resources are needed to ensure the continuation of high visibility policing in Dublin, they will be made available. In the past year, 280 new gardaí have been assigned to the Dublin region, including 115 since mid-December, adding to the resources that Garda management have available to provide a high visibility policing service in the city centre and beyond.

There are a number of ongoing Garda operations in Dublin to combat crime and antisocial behaviour. Operation Citizen continues to reassure the citizens, visitors and business community that Dublin city centre is a safe place to visit and socialise in.

Community safety is about people being safe and, importantly, feeling safe in their own community. The Dublin North Inner Local Community Safety Partnership continues to ensure that local communities and service providers work together to identify the actions needed specific to their local community to ensure it is a safe place to live, work in and visit. There is also the north inner city task force, which is chaired by Mr. Jim Gavin.

In line with these goals, the Minister was pleased to launch the Dublin partnership safety plan last September. The plan outlines 50 actions across five priority areas aimed at addressing community safety concerns in the north inner city, including drug-dealing, antisocial behaviour and improving the physical environment.

In my role as Minister of State with responsibility for local government, I gave a commitment to the Deputy that I would make contact with the new CEO of Dublin City Council, Mr. Richard Shakespeare, and I have done so. The Deputy is probably aware that the council launched a new antisocial behaviour strategy in December. It is increasing the number or staff in the antisocial behaviour unit from three to seven and is in the process of recruiting the extra staff. The unit, which will be headed up by a senior executive officer with seven staff, will deal with one aspect, namely, antisocial behaviour.

I appreciate the concerns of the community the Deputy represents. That is the up-to-date position from the Minister for Justice on Garda resources and operations. I have also outlined my interaction with Dublin City Council as Minister of State with responsibility for local government. I await the Deputy's further contribution.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply and appreciate his response on an issue I raised previously. That is highly beneficial.

I noted that a lot of young people are being groomed into the drugs industry. They are given electric bikes and then zoom up and down different networks and pathways in the area. I fully believe that those young people are victims. I am not looking for a criminal response but a pathway out of this.

The Minister of State has responsibility for local government. The pitches in Fairview Park come under the auspices of Dublin City Council. Sheriff YC, East Wall Bessborough FC and Belvedere Youth Club are all football teams which have done incredible work over the years in providing outlets for young people who might otherwise be at risk. Their pitches have been destroyed. This issue has captured a lot of attention over the past couple of months. It was initially caused by a car driving through Fairview Park. We then had a couple of different motorbikes in the past couple of weeks. This means that young people, who we are keeping a very tentative hold of, cannot play their games on Sundays. I probably would not have raised this issue if the Minister for Justice had been present but since the Minister of State is here, I ask him to intervene to get those pitches back. That would be brilliant in terms of providing an outlet.

On the issue of improving the aesthetic of the north inner city through the Minister of State's brief, the residents of the streets surrounding Dorset Street consistently highlight the fact that the appearance of Dorset Street creates a sense that nobody is in control. It looks as though it is in decay and lawlessness has been allowed to fester. I ask the Minister of State to speak to Dublin City Council about how to improve that thoroughfare into the city. We should be doing that. People coming into the city from the airport go through the area. All the other streets look much better than Dorset Street. We also need zero tolerance of open drug-dealing and street-drinking. Residents need to feel that when lawlessness and law-breaking occurs, the State has their back by responding in a way that would be viewed as a matter of course in other communities.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I ask the Deputy to send me a structured email so that we can formally follow up with Dublin City Council on the issues he has raised on behalf of the people he represents.

On behalf of the Minister, Deputy McEntee, I thank the Deputy for raising this issue in the House. While the Minister for Health and his Department lead the Government response to drug use, tackling this issue will continue to be a priority for the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and her Department.

As the Deputy is aware, the Government has agreed to establish a committee to consider the report of the Citizens' Assembly on Drug Use. We hope to have the committee up and running soon and that it will report back within seven months. The Deputy referred to younger people being victims. That will form part of the committee's considerations.

For An Garda Síochána, the priority in respect of drugs is to disrupt and dismantle organised crime gangs and drug-dealing operations and to remove illegal drugs from circulation.

The Government has taken a number of steps to tackle antisocial behaviour and criminality. These include providing An Garda Síochána with its largest ever budget to support a highly visible Garda presence on our streets; giving An Garda Síochána the tools and technology to fight crime in a digital era by rolling out improved CCTV and body-worn cameras which, we hope, gardaí will have in use in the next number of months; increasing a range of maximum sentences, including for assault causing harm and assaulting a peace officer; introducing facial recognition technology to help solve serious crime; increasing the number of judges to improve the efficiency of the courts; and increasing the number of prison spaces by 400.

The Minister and Government will continue to ensure gardaí have the necessary resources to build stronger, safer communities, including in Dublin city centre and the inner city.