Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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Last week, the Taoiseach announced the formation of a task force to make Dublin a more attractive and safer city. Of course, I strongly welcome the formation of this task force. It is long overdue. Much of Dublin city centre feels menacing when walking around it. I have consistently raised the concerns of the communities who actually live in the inner city. The inner city is their home and their front garden. It is where they are raising families. These communities feel utterly abandoned by Government.

Last week, two young girls were attacked in the middle of the day. The attack has traumatised the entire community and yet the individual involved was released on bail. What message does that send to the family of these two girls? This family is terrified and traumatised. I spoke with the mother of the two girls and the fear this family has, knowing that this man is back out wandering the streets while waiting on a court date, is traumatising for them. The children are afraid to leave their mother. They are afraid to go to school. Despite being the victim in this, the mother has been left with absolutely no supports. She has not been offered counselling support, therapy or anything else. She has been left on her own with her two kids in fear of seeing this particular individual again.

This is the story of countless families and individuals. Gardaí are doing what they can to catch offenders, only to watch them being released on bail by the courts. It is a disgrace that those arrested for violent crimes in Dublin are so frequently released on bail. The Minister of State speaks of making Dublin safe but after decades of Fine Gael at the helm, families have never felt more unsafe in this city.

Over a year ago, an appalling situation developed on Sandwith Street. A tented village took over the street, surrounding Boyne Street and St. Andrew's Court, from there to Mount Street and now onto the Grand Canal and Ringsend. The pass-the-parcel approach of the Government on immigration cannot continue. The issue is being passed from one neglected community to the next because of the Taoiseach and Government's ad hocapproach to immigration. Those communities and local businesses are left picking up the pieces from the Government's failed policies. Will the Minister of State outline which stakeholders will be part of the task force? Will it include representatives from inner-city communities?

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, an important one to many Deputies living in Dublin and to the general population. Dublin city centre has always been a vibrant destination for the locals, visitors and tourists who come here to enjoy all the wonderful amenities it has to offer. Recently, however, the social and cultural character of the city centre has changed, with increased concerns for public safety and a diminished overall experience on our streets.

In response to this, earlier this month on 7 May, the Government agreed to appoint a task force to take a holistic view of the measures required to rejuvenate Dublin city centre, both north and south. The goal is to make the whole of Dublin city centre a more thriving, attractive and safe cityscape, and a desirable location in which to live, work and do business and to visit.

David McRedmond, CEO of An Post, has agreed to serve as the independent chair of the task force and will bring his wealth of insights and experience to the role. He will be assisted in that work by a membership including public service representation via Dublin City Council, An Garda Síochána and the National Transport Authority, as well as representatives of city centre businesses, trade unions, community service providers, and cultural and arts providers.

Evidence from international perspectives suggests cities need to take an integrated approach that includes a wide range of actions to create socially, economically and environmentally sustainable city centres that can thrive and are good places to live. We want our city to be a safe place with a low crime rate. This will make it a better place for the community who live there and will encourage people to visit, socialise and consume goods and services in the area.

Public realm design impacts how the city feels. Good public realm ensures our streets are designed to be enjoyed. This can include trees and planting, street art and sculpture, places to sit and congregate and formal and informal play spaces to be enjoyed by people young and old.

International experience also considers aspects such as pedestrian and cycle access; special events; maximising the impact of green and play spaces; encouraging development, retrofit or restoration of buildings; and ensuring the right mix of public services for vulnerable groups who come into the city centre. These initiatives have the potential to create diversity of people in city centres, increasing footfall generally and ensuring there is footfall over the course of the day and evening.

Over the next 12 weeks, the task force will interrogate and harness existing efforts and initiatives to inform its work. Taking an evidence-based approach to that work, the task force will deliver a cohesive and focused list of recommendations, which will complement work already under way within Dublin city co-ordination offices and existing initiatives such as Dublin’s north east inner city initiative and the Dublin north inner city local community safety partnership. As well as drawing on existing work and community engagement processes, the chair of the task force will consider how best to engage with the community in Dublin city as part of the task force’s programme of work

It is agreed that these initiatives are highly relevant to the wider city centre area but there is a need to consider what additional co-ordinated activities could galvanise actions for a vibrant, attractive and safe city centre for everyone who visits, lives and works there. The task force will consider what additional co-ordinated activities could galvanise actions to return Dublin’s city centre to the vibrant destination we know it to be.

Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein)
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Listening to that, I cannot help feeling the Departments of Justice and of the Taoiseach are deluded as to what is happening for families living in the inner city. In recent years, the communities of Pearse Street and City Quay have been terrorised by gangs who travel from all over Dublin to have recreational gang fights on the bridge at City Quay.

The local communities, gardaí and Dublin County Council are doing their best and the residents groups in City Quay work hard to bring law and order back to the streets but communities and front-line gardaí are fighting an uphill battle. They are utterly under-resourced and failed by the Minister for Justice.

In recent months, we have seen a spike in crime in the City Quay area, particularly break-ins. The community feels abandoned. The elderly and those living alone, in particular, are terrified. What are residents supposed to do if someone breaks into their home and the Garda does not have the resources to respond? Clearly, the Garda does not have the resources to respond to the huge levels of violent crime in the inner city.

I am concerned that if the Government does not get its act together and put more gardaí on the beat, it will not be too long before we see residents taking the law into their own hands. That is hugely worrying. The Government must ensure it does not come to that, must give communities the gardaí they need to feel safe and must ensure the city is safe for residents whose front garden is the city centre. We have to have more protection. The Minister for Justice seems deluded as to what is happening in the area.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for his input to the debate and the views he has raised. In fairness to the Taoiseach, he was only in his second or third week in the role when he established a task force to take a view of the measures required to rejuvenate Dublin city centre, both north and south.

We can all welcome the focus brought by Government on measures which will hopefully make all the difference. The goal is to make the whole of Dublin city centre a more thriving, attractive, and safe cityscape - the Deputy spoke of the gardaí and the great work they do - and a desirable location to live, work, do business and visit.

We can also agree on the value David McRedmond will bring to the role as independent chair of the task force. Over the next 12 weeks, Mr. McRedmond will lend his wealth of insight and experience as the task force carries out its work. However, that work is only the beginning. At the end of July, the task force will submit for the Government's consideration a cohesive and focused list of recommendations it feels could galvanise actions to make Dublin city centre a better place to live in, work in and visit. The outcome of these actions will deliver on a shared vision of central Dublin's public space, both north and south. We want to make Dublin city centre a better place for locals, as well as visitors and tourists who come to enjoy all the wonderful amenities it has to offer.

We all wish the task force the best of luck. Its work is only beginning and we will all await the output at the end of July.