Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)
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I wish to highlight a matter of real and growing concern in the southern part of my constituency. There has been a recent surge in antisocial behaviour in the Northwood area of Santry, particularly around Gulliver's Retail Park. Families, residents and business owners feel increasingly unsafe due to targeted and aggressive incidents, including reports of cans and stones being thrown at passersby, including children, in public spaces but, more worryingly, racially motivated incidents and incidents of harassment.

This behaviour is not only totally unacceptable, it is deeply distressing for those who live or work in or visit the area. The atmosphere in Northwood is changing for the worst. This is an area in which people have lived peacefully for the past number of years. What we are witnessing is more than just nuisance behaviour; it is a pattern of intimidation that is shaking the sense of security in a community that was safe and that should be safe and welcoming for all. The area around Gulliver's Retail Park and the nearby residential zones seems to have become a hot spot for these incidents. I have many emails from constituents within the area in which they provided detailed reports. These are not just isolated events; they are evidence of a wider pattern that the residents say has been building in recent months.

In response to these incidents, I am calling for a more visible Garda presence and patrols in the area. My colleague Deputy Kelly provided me with updated Garda figures for this year. Thankfully, Ballymun received three additional gardaí. I am also calling for better public lighting in public walkways and car parks to deter illegal activity. There is a need for a collaborative effort involving gardaí, Fingal County Council and local stakeholders to address this issue and to re-establish the joint policing committees, which have been stood down for more than 12 months now, as a matter of urgency. Given that Northwood spans two separate local authority areas, will the Minister of State clarify the measures that are being taken to facilitate the appointment of the chairs and co-chairs of the new joint policing committees to address these issues effectively and ensure co-ordinated policing and community engagement in the area is taking place?

Let us be clear. Antisocial behaviour affects more than just the immediate victims, it also damages the wider community. It creates fear and poison. It undermines the trust in public spaces . If left unchecked, it escalates very quickly. That is why a co-ordinated and proactive approach between the community and gardaí is urgently required. We owe it to the residents of Northwood and Santry, especially the families of young children, to restore safety, dignity and peace of mind to their daily lives. Antisocial behaviour has no place in our communities and should not be tolerated. This needs to be addressed immediately.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I sincerely thank Deputy O'Donoghue for raising this timely and important issue. At the outset, and before I get into the specifics, I condemn any incidents of racially motivated abuse. I know the Deputy shares that view, as does everyone in this House. It is important to say that sometimes because we can tend gloss over it. Such behaviour is a scourge that we must all stay united in our opposition to.

The Deputy rightly and specifically raised the issue of gardaí on the beat. Getting more gardaí on our streets is this Government's first priority in the area of justice. Increased recruitment and appropriate civilianisation, where possible, is ongoing in order to achieve this goal. The level of resourcing provided to An Garda Síochána is supporting this work. The latest recruitment campaign was successful in attracting 6,700 applications. Newly appointed gardaí will support existing members, such as the 775 Garda members assigned to the Dublin metropolitan region, DMR, north division, an increase of 107 since 2015, who are supported by 72 Garda staff, which is up 28 over the same period.

I will address the issues specific to Northwood shortly, but the Deputy asked about community safety partnerships, which are key to addressing local concerns. More broadly, we recognise that we cannot police our way out of complex social problems. In that context, enhancing community safety requires a whole-of-society approach. That is why we are replacing joint policing committees with local community safety partnerships, LCSPs. These partnerships, which provided for in the new Policing, Security and Community Safety Act, will build on the good work of the joint policing committees. I was a member of one of those committees in my area. They will have broader membership, bringing together local councillors, gardaí, residents, communities - including minority and new communities - education and business representatives and statutory agencies such as the HSE, Tusla, and local authorities. Each LCSP will develop a tailored community safety plan for its area. Regulations to formally establish the LCSPs are being finalised. I am informed by the Minister that these regulations will be completed shortly.

The success of the pilot LCSPs demonstrated the value of this model. The Dublin north inner city plan included 50 actions across five priority areas and fostered strong collaboration between gardaí, youth services, addiction supports and local authorities. The pilot partnerships were subject to independent monitoring and evaluation with baseline, interim and final reports published. The learning from these pilots is being used to inform the national roll out of LCSPs. A total of 36 partnerships will be rolled out following the finalising of regulations in each local authority area. There will be one in each of the Dublin City Council administrative areas - five in total - and two in Fingal, namely one in north Fingal and another in west Fingal.

Each LCSP will be led by a voluntary chair and supported by a full-time co-ordinator and administrator. The chair will be elected from among and by the partnership membership. While administrative boundaries require that certain areas fall into neighbouring LCSPs, the overarching aim is to maintain a co-ordinated, place-based response to community safety needs. The National Office for Community Safety, based out of the Department of Justice, has prepared a comprehensive guidance document. Additionally, the National Office for Community Safety will establish networks for LCSP chairs, co-ordinators and members, giving opportunities for collaboration to share examples of best practice and request support for emergent issues and co-ordinate and communicate in related areas.

I will probably need to wait until the next slot to address the issues relating to Northwood more fully. However, I understand that gardaí have already increased high-visibility patrols in the Northwood area following a recent robbery in Gulliver's Retail Park. As a result of these patrols, the suspect was arrested by local gardaí and is currently before the courts. Community gardaí are continuing to act with the community in this area. I will go into more detail on matters relating to community gardaí in my next slot. I would do the matter a disservice if I were to just run through the first two paragraphs at this point.

Robert O'Donoghue (Dublin Fingal West, Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State. This issue can be looked at on a cross-party basis. There is no division here between the Opposition and the Government. I welcome the information to the effect that the LCSPs are to be set up shortly. When I was a councillor, I served on a joint policing committee. I found that very useful because you get to know all the stakeholders on the pitch, for want of a better way of putting it. If the Minister of State could expand on the Northwood issue, I would really appreciate it.

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I really appreciate the opportunity to come back in. I cannot stress enough how important it is that any of these issues that are brought to the attention of the House are solved by all of us. None of us can claim responsibility. None of us can shoulder all the blame. If we work together, however, we can alleviate the impact of what is happening.

Community gardaí play such an important part in addressing and resolving these issues at local level. Members from the Ballymun community policing team have held Garda clinics specifically for the residents of Northwood, one of which was attended by the divisional crime prevention officer. The neighbouring policing team has also begun the process of establishing a business watch for Gulliver's Retail Park. Local gardaí have dealt with a number of young people regarding specific incidents of antisocial behaviour in the area. A number of individuals are either engaging with juvenile liaison officers or are before the courts and subject to strict bail conditions.

On behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, I assure the Deputy that local gardaí will continue to work collaboratively with everyone in the community. While enforcement is essential, we also recognise that many of the young people involved in antisocial behaviour have simply strayed onto the wrong path. That is why prevention and early intervention are essential to our approach. The youth diversion projects that are funded by the Department of Justice are vital in this work.

These community-based multi-agency initiatives aim to divert young people from criminal or antisocial behaviour at source. There are now 93 youth diversion projects nationwide, with two new projects, in east Clare and north Tipperary, to be operational by the end of this year, ensuring full national cover.

I want to highlight the availability of funding for community-based CCTV schemes. Since 2017, over €950,000 has been approved for 36 schemes, and a further €1 million is available this year. Applications can be made by local authorities. Community groups may request their local authority to apply for funding. Once operational, the LCSPs will be the appropriate forums to co-ordinate such initiatives. On the specific LCSP in the Deputy's area, I will ask the Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, to liaise directly with his office to provide the updated information.