Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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In six years of having been here and having been a regulator contributor to Topical Issue debates, this is the first time I have had a senior Minister here to respond. While I will often disagree with the Minister and we will often clash, I do not doubt for a second his dedication to the issues he is in charge of.

There has unquestionably been an increase in the Garda presence in the commercial city centre of Dublin over the past six months. The Minister and his Department should be commended on that. Many retailers can see the benefits of the increased Garda presence. One consequence of that is the displacement of some of the issues in the commercial city centre, which have now been pushed into the more residential parts of the inner city. We have seen an increase in open drug dealing, the intimidation that goes alongside that and antisocial behaviour. For 30 or 40 years we have heard about the containment of problems. Tony Gregory, long before I was ever in the House, used that phrase to describe parts of the city where there were issues that were tolerated in a way they would not otherwise be.

I will highlight some of the emails sent to me and issues raised with me this week. Today, I received an email from a resident in the Russell Street area, alongside Croke Park. It is 150 m from Fitzgibbon Street Garda station. The person concerned referred to an increase in burglaries in the area. The Russell Street Bakery, a lovely bakery that has been frequented by new people living in the community, was burgled this week. The understanding is that although there is a Garda station beside the bakery, it is rarely policed or manned, and people who are up to no good have cottoned on to that fact.

The Minister might not know North Frederick Street Court, an apartment complex behind the Gate Theatre and Chapter One Restaurant. Those businesses have said they are overwhelmed by the displacement of people who have been pushed out of the commercial city centre and into laneways. People should always be tolerated, but there is open drug dealing, and the violence associated with that, in North Frederick Street Court.

Mountjoy Square, which for me could become the jewel in the crown of the north side, is experiencing a significant level of violence and gang-related crime. Council workers have spoken about being fearful of going into Mountjoy Square because they regularly find knives stashed in the shrubbery. Open drug dealing also seems to be happening along the canal and people are fearful of walking in the area at night due to the use of electric scooters to transport drugs. The area is seen as an artery for transporting drugs.

I regularly speak about the north inner city. I love the area and it is part of who I am. The issues the area is experiencing are generational and a product of the location in which the community is placed.

The improved policing in the commercial city centre is really welcome, but some of the displacement factors stemming from this seem to mean that some of the issues that were there are now being tolerated in more residential parts. Is this the Minister's shared understanding? Perhaps we can speak afterwards about what we might do about it.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Gannon for raising this issue. When there is a Topical Issue that is relevant to my Department, I will hope to be here. If I am available and not off elsewhere out of Dublin, I will be here for them. I thank Deputy Gannon for raising these issues, which are also of concern to me, not only as Minister for justice but as a TD for Dublin Bay South, which is just over the Liffey from the area he represents.

Deputy Gannon is correct; there is increased Garda visibility in the city centre. As he did, I commend the Garda on it. It has been a good development. I encouraged it and I am glad it appears to be getting public recognition. Much of the time people really want to see gardaí on the streets. It gives them a sense of safety and security. As we have said previously, it is a good reflection on the police force in the country that people want to see them around as much as possible.

To give Deputy Gannon some of the statistics, as of April 2025 there were 3,824 gardaí working in Dublin. Of these, 1,413 were assigned to Dublin metropolitan north central and south central. Effectively, the inner city has 1,413 gardaí. The reason for the increased visibility of gardaí in the city at present is not so much that gardaí are being moved out of other residential areas into the city centre. To a large extent, it is a policy decision made by the Commissioner. Great credit goes to the assistant commissioner Paul Cleary because recently 101 gardaí from Templemore were assigned to the city centre north-central and south-central regions. This has had an impact on policing.

I do not believe it is the case, although I will check with the Commissioner, that what has happened is that gardaí have been moved from outer parts of the city to inner parts. I do not think this has happened. In fairness, what Deputy Gannon appears to be saying is that some of the problems and criminality that were ongoing in the inner city have moved out a bit because of the increased policing in the inner city.

Deputy Gannon mentioned a number of areas. I am concerned to hear about the burglary of the bakery in Russell Street. I am aware of Russell Street, an historic street where Brendan Behan was born. The fact there is a Garda station beside a business does not mean it is immune to burglary or criminal attack. In many respects, I want to see gardaí out of Garda stations and on the streets. Certainly any increase in burglary is an issue of concern because it can spiral. Sometimes when the gardaí apprehend people, the number of burglaries reduces because one or two individuals can have a significant impact on burglaries in an area.

Deputy Gannon mentioned Frederick Court in North Frederick Street and drug dealing going on in the laneways there. That certainly used to happen in my constituency, beside Deputy Gannon's constituency, in the laneways off Aston Quay. I hope that the Garda will get up to the laneways off North Frederick Street and I will bring it to its attention.

Earlier today I was down at the Merchants Quay centre. I know Deputy Gannon will be interested to hear this. The project there does excellent work. Every time I get involved with people who have drug addiction, I see the sadness of drug addiction and the terrible impact it has on people's lives. Merchants Quay is doing very good projects. For the past six months, there has been the injection facility downstairs and it is working well. I know it can give rise to contentious views. Looking at it from the point of view of the city, however, it is having an impact in reducing the number of people who have to take drugs in a public setting. They can now do it in a private setting.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I think the Minister misunderstood what I was implying when I spoke about the increased presence of gardaí in the city centre. I was not suggesting for a second that gardaí were being taken from various Garda stations and being brought into the city centre. What I was suggesting was that perhaps there is a policy of containment of problems in residential areas such that they are not coming into commercial areas. That is the feedback I get from residents.

There was an initiative in the north inner city ten or 12 years ago called the small area policing initiative. Gardaí had the responsibility to knock on people's doors and introduce themselves. They were tasked with knocking on every door in the area to introduce themselves and explain that they were the local gardaí. It worked phenomenally well. It created a presence whereby people knew their gardaí and got the sense that the gardaí were there for them. In the decades since, that has been stripped away for a variety of reasons, which I do not want to get into now. When we lost the that, we lost our sense of gardaí in the community, tackling issues and building relationships there. We do not have this any more. The prioritisation seems to be angled towards what I refer to as the commercial city centre. I understand why this is. Two years ago, I was here speaking about the issues in that area. We need to get both right at the same time.

Even though we are saying there has been an increased Garda presence in the city centre, I do not know whether the Minister has ever walked along O'Connell Street or gone over O'Connell Bridge at 9 p.m. or 10 p.m.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I have.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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It is not something that could be described as safe, even with the increased Garda presence. Next week after the voting block, I will walk across with the Minister. I walk through there every night.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I was there last Thursday.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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We can have a look. It is clearly not meeting the standard required, although there have clearly been improvements. I believe we need a different form of policing in commercial areas from that in residential areas. It requires a different strategy and a different approach, not quite a municipal police force but something similar. Residential policing and the policing of more commercial areas are different. We need community gardaí in our communities knocking on doors and introducing themselves, and we need gardaí on the streets and in commercial areas to have a different role.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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The gardaí in the inner city are not just there for the commercial sector. In my constituency , and I am sure Deputy Gannon's is the same, there are many residential areas in the inner city. In my constituency there is Glovers Court, which is right beside Aungier Street, as well as York Street and Mercer House. People want to see gardaí in the area. One of the good things about Dublin, unlike capital cities like London, is that we still have communities living in the city centre. It is good that Dublin City Council still has large units for accommodation in the city centre. The fact there are more gardaí in the city centre is not directed at trying to make the city centre a place for the commercial sector. It is trying to make it safe for everyone, including people who come to visit, people who work there and, very importantly, people who live there.

On the point the Deputy made about relationships with the gardaí, a good community garda is like a good politician, in that people in the area know them. This is something I want to see continue. It does happen in areas, although perhaps it is more difficult in cities the size of Dublin, but it is very important that we have community gardaí in the city centre. I hear what Deputy Gannon said about the small area policing initiative. It sounds like a very good thing. I assure him that in certain parts of the city, gardaí are known to the local communities.

Much of this issue comes back to the fact that we need more gardaí. If we have more gardaí, there is much more we will be able to achieve. I am trying to recruit, and we have the funding to recruit 1,000 gardaí each year. I will not give up on that. It really is a requirement. If we have more gardaí available, we will have more gardaí on the streets of Dublin and in other cities. I am conscious that when people hear about increased policing in Dublin, they ask about Wexford, Galway or Cork.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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They can raise their own Topical Issues.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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We need to ensure there are as many gardaí as possible so they are around the country and on the streets.