Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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I move:

That Dáil Éireann: — recognises that anti-social behaviour continues to be a major problem in Ireland for people of all ages;

— noting that the factors leading to this behaviour are multi-faceted and that some work has been done to date to identify and resource solutions;

— accepting that Garda numbers per head of population remain far short of optimal levels;

— acknowledges that many people feel a sense of powerlessness to deal with this persistent problem, especially when those involved are aged under 18 years of age and can commit multiple offences before being dealt with by the current system;

— undertakes to provide additional resources to tackle the root causes of underage anti-social behaviour, with an additional strong emphasis on immediate consequences for actions; and

— commits to providing a full list of implementable legislative and resourcing reforms to lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas within six months of this motion being passed, based on contributions made during this debate, best practice in Ireland and internationally, and specifically assessing the following measures:

— the introduction of curfews for repeat offenders;

— community courts for rapid adjudication on anti-social behaviour offences, including the sanctioning of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs);

— ASBOs to be sanctioned without requiring Gardaí to turn up in court;

— immediate seizure on a permanent basis of high-value items such as scooters, quads, scramblers involved in anti-social activities or breaking the law;

— temporary removal of personal items such as Playstations, Xboxes, smartphones, for consistent reported anti-social behaviour;

— seizure of any items suspected to be obtained as a result of theft, i.e. a "mini-Criminal Assets Bureau";

— fines for parents where appropriate, or similar, proportionate measures that encourage co-operation and act as a deterrent;

— enhance the ability of shops to search and detain shoplifters pending the arrival of the Gardaí;

— meaningful restorative justice to pay back any damages;

— community service such as clean-ups with Garda vetted bodies such as Tidy Towns Groups or other organisations as may be appropriate;

— increased Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) investment programme for playgrounds and high-value, high-amenity areas targeted regularly by anti-social behaviour;

— a clearer legal definition of what constitutes reasonable self-defence when being threatened, or assaulted by underage perpetrators, including having items such as sticks, rocks, glass and other implements being thrown at individuals;

— zero tolerance for littering and increased fines as part of a wider social contract;

— further consideration for a ban on social media for under 16s as raised by Deputy Gogarty several months ago;

— better school attendance monitoring;

— a penalty points system for stronger action with repeat offenders;

— enrolment in education programmes where abuse is found to be motivated by the race, gender, sexual orientation or religious/cultural background;

— a faster, ticket-based reporting system for victims of anti-social behaviour to log and view progress on incidents, including an easier way to upload video and photo evidence to An Garda Síochána;

— a streamlined process for making statements and statutory declarations that frees up Garda time;

— additional educational and youth diversion resourcing;

— stronger focus on community policing to identify and deter potential anti-social behaviour;

— orders prohibiting anti-social groups from contacting one another for fixed periods; and

— recognition for positive social behaviour through a credits-based pathway system for valued community service or learning outcomes.

As an Independent Opposition TD, I get to table Private Members' business twice per year, if that. My first Private Members’ business motion during this term is devoted to the issue of antisocial behaviour because so many people in my constituency have expressed a sense of fear and powerlessness about what is happening, especially when the culprits are under the age of 18. I raised this matter with the Taoiseach before the summer for a lesser time period. I did get some sympathetic responses, but collectively we need to have a sense of urgency to deal with the situation. I am not one just to play petty politics and cast aspersions. I will give credit where credit is due. We have a task force on antisocial behaviour. The previous Government published the Youth Justice Strategy 2021-2027. However, as far as I know, that task force has not sat since before the election. We are still awaiting on youth justice strategy interim report. There have been efforts to increase the number of gardaí.

There has been a significant increase between 2008 and now. When I work it out, we have almost 20% fewer gardaí per head of population than we did in 2008, before the downturn led to a loss of numbers. Just at the end of the Celtic tiger era, we had a lot more gardaí per head of population.

People are giving out that when they do ring for gardaí, they cannot get a response. Last week, at a school in my constituency, a bunch of youths, some of whom were of primary school age, broke into a school and started stealing bikes. They were told by the staff to leave. They did not and instead started to throw stones at the staff. Gardaí were called but did not have a car available. They said their car was at the courts at the time. That is not an isolated case. I am not one for Garda-bashing, because I know the Garda is under-resourced. Members of the force do an absolutely fantastic job, given the constraints they face. We need to increase Garda numbers, which is partially mentioned in this motion, but we also need to make their work more effective.

The Minister himself has said we need to take gardaí away from the courts. At the moment, senior gardaí have to attend court if they want to apply for an ASBO, while other gardaí have to turn up at courts very regularly, which takes away from Garda time on the ground. In the context of this debate, I would like to see a commitment to a timescale for meaningful action in that regard.

I will bring the Minister's attention to some of the instances that are happening in my area and that I know are happening across the country, including in his constituency. For example, a 13-year-old boy was subject to a random attack and his eye socket was damaged. A pregnant lady was walking in one of the local parks and someone on a scooter circled her several times and brushed off her. In the same park, there are regularly gangs of youths hanging around in the playground, smoking and intimidating other people, again with no Garda or park ranger response because there are not enough park rangers or available gardaí. Another playground, which, as a councillor, I pushed for three years to be refurbished, was set on fire the week before last. Again, that was done by a couple of people. In my area, there are only four or five groups but they are committing regular instances of antisocial behaviour, sometimes with impunity, so they are becoming more emboldened over a period of time. It is happening everywhere, in Clondalkin, Newcastle, Saggart, Rathcoole, Lucan, Palmerstown - you name it, there are incidents there.

Sometimes, as was mentioned in the previous debate, if these perpetrators come across a newcomer to Ireland, then the racial tropes are thrown in as well. A lot of people do not know how they are supposed to react when a gang of youths are coming at them throwing sticks or stones. A mentor of a local football club, who was with his seven-year-old daughter, did not let a bunch of lads into a locker and was told that they knew where his car was, that they would find out where he lives and that he would be strung up higher than Jesus on the cross. That sort of intimidation is not acceptable.

I tabled a parliamentary question asking what case studies or case law shows what reasonable self-defence is when someone is being attacked. The question was ruled out of order, which leads me to suggest it very much depends on the case in question. People are quite afraid. For example, if people are coming at you with sticks, are you allowed to grab the stick out of their hands? Are you allowed to hit them to stop them hitting you? These are situations in which people want to know how they can defend themselves. Equally, we have to ensure vigilante gangs are not beating up kids, because there are hangers-on. That is what the motion is about, the hangers-on. It is not about the ringleaders, because the ringleaders will go through the system, but the hangers-on need deterrents.

I have proposed a number of things and I ask for support from the Opposition on them, as well as for suggestions from the Opposition and backbenchers for what we can do to try to deal with the root causes of antisocial behaviour. I am not saying there are not problems on that side but there are also no consequences or short, sharp shocks for people who are doing stuff right now. I have thrown out a couple of suggestions that have been called for by other groups. For example, in 2010, there was a call for community courts. This has also recently been reflected by RGDATA, which is calling for night courts for shoplifting. There was a situation in my constituency where people came in, stole bottles, came back in and threw the bottles over the staff. Another guy came in doing the whole shoulder exercise and walked out with a load of stuff from another convenience store. Retailers are fearful for their staff. They have absolute fear they will either end up being sued for defamation or else will have to let people walk out and take stuff willy-nilly, and that puts costs on consumers everywhere in the country.

I am looking for the following measures to further reform defamation and to allow for detention where it can be shown on camera that people are involved in shoplifting. Maybe we should also have on-the-spot fines for shoplifting. I am also looking for ASBOs to be sanctioned without requiring gardaí to turn up in court; for the immediate seizure of high-value items such as scooters, quads and scramblers where they are involved in antisocial behaviour; and the temporary removal of personal items such as PlayStations, Xboxes and smartphones from those reported to consistently engage in antisocial behaviour, that is, if it is feasible and I want responses in that regard. It may have to be a voluntary measure whereby the parents have to agree to give up these items. I know a commitment can be gained from parents that comes before the antisocial behaviour order, but that process takes too long so if parents are not playing ball, we should consider other sanctions such as fines where appropriate. We should have meaningful restorative justice to pay back damages. There are Tidy Towns groups and other organisations around the country, or it could be mirrored whereby Garda-vetted groups could facilitate the less serious offenders getting out and doing community clean-ups and community service. I would like to see curfews, for example, for the ones who are causing more trouble and restrictions on them contacting their friends for a period.

We also need to have CCTV. For too long, where the likes of playgrounds have been burned to a crisp or where special sculptures have been targeted, we cannot identify the culprits. The gardaí say they might be wearing masks, etc., but the communities I represent want CCTV and want more funding for CCTV.

I mentioned the need for a potential ban on social media, which was discussed at committee yesterday, so I will not go into too many details here. We also need a faster ticket-based reporting system so that victims of antisocial behaviour can log an incident and view the progress being made because due to the nature of how the system operates at present, victims do not know if their case is being followed up in any way. In the same vein, a streamlined process is required for gardaí so that if they are making a statement or some form of statutory declaration for a court, they could do it, in the same way as happened to a small degree during Covid, without having to go into court. We need community courts, fewer gardaí in courts and a stronger focus on community policing.

Equally, we need recognition for positive social behaviour. Even if people have been brought in through juvenile liaison or are told they have to do some community service, they should be recognised for the community service they actually do. These are just a couple of suggestions. At the moment, there are groups going around and my constituents are scared because they see them going about with no consequences. These groups are getting bolder and bolder and as they go through the system, they are more likely to end up with full criminal justice ramifications. We are trying to stop people before they get to that stage. Yes, we need to look at the carrots and I fully support that, but there are no sticks. If there are sticks that work, we need to try them as soon as possible.

Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)
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I welcome this debate and thank Deputy Gogarty and his staff for bringing it forward. It is a conversation that is long overdue. Antisocial behaviour is not some abstract issue or statistic on the pages of reports. It is happening in our towns and villages every day of the week. It is happening to shopkeepers who have to watch their shelves while being threatened, elderly people who feel unsafe while walking to the shop and families who see their local parks or playgrounds wrecked. It is even happening to teenagers themselves, many of whom are just trying to go about their business and get caught up in a culture of intimidation and fear.

Let me be clear. I support this motion because but is better to have this debate than to let things slide and continue as they are. We all know the shortcomings in policing in this country and we are serious about resolving them. We need to be honest. First, the motion rightly points to the root causes of antisocial behaviour. If we do not put real investment into prevention, youth diversion and giving young people better outlets, then we are just talking to ourselves. I look at those in west Cork who set up the Garda youth awards and what a huge success it has been to show this country what so many young people can do, and so well.

The things they do are absolutely brilliant. So many of them receive awards on the night but it sets something in place for their CVs going forward. It is an incredible event and it needs to be commended and copied throughout the country. Independent Ireland has said it plainly: early intervention is the only way forward. We need to put the money into schools, youth clubs, sports facilities and half of this problem will be prevented before it even begins. That is very often what is missing in the thinking.

Second, there is community policing. Time and time again, I have stood here and stated that the strength of policing is gardaí on the ground, not behind a desk. A garda who knows the name of a young fella can nip something in the bud before it escalates. That is the model that works. The motion should put that at the core, where it belongs. I look at the recent allocation of gardaí announced recently. Only one was announced for west Cork. That is an astonishing situation in which we find ourselves. There was one new garda for the whole of west Cork. That is scandalous. What message is that sending to existing Garda authority in west Cork? It shows anyone that their concerns and those of others are not being listened to. What do I tell the people of Drimoleague, whose Garda station is closed due to a lack of gardaí? Is it just "Sorry, hard luck"? That will not work and it will not be the answer for them when I go back there. The fact that we can now see clearly that this Government will not appoint gardaí to west Cork shows we will have to defend ourselves more and more with CCTV, though again we come unstuck there. I told the Minister already that the towns of Clonakilty, Skibbereen and Dunmanway have had their CCTV switched off for no good apparent reason. No matter who I write to, no one is taking responsibility. It is surely under the Department of justice to see that CCTV works in every town in the country where it exists. Some communities in west Cork are lucky to have it and they feel safe with it, but it is scandalous to think that it is switched off in those areas and no answer has been given to me after three or four months asking the same question, namely, why it was switched off and who has the controls to put it back on again.

Let us talk about Garda numbers. The motion says what we all know. The numbers are far too low, but saying it is not enough. Independent Ireland has hammered home this point. You cannot police on the cheap. Recruitment matters, but retention is just as critical. We are losing good gardaí because morale is on the floor. Paperwork is crushing them and they do not feel supported. They feel that changes will keep bleeding numbers. A motion in this House will not fix it. On paperwork, I do like the proposals to streamline statements and declarations. This is exactly the sort of thing we have been calling for. Let gardaí police. Let them do their jobs, not spend half the day filling in forms that could be simplified or digitalised. The seizure on a permanent basis of high-value items such as scooters, squads and scramblers involved in antisocial activities and the paying-back of any damages is meaningful justice for victims of crime and a stance that Independent Ireland would like to see actioned.

The motion also touches on protecting shopkeepers. Our party has raised this issue again and again. Shoplifting is rampant. Small businesses are being hammered and in rural Ireland farmers are seeing livestock stolen. Yes, we must give shopkeepers backup with the proper Garda support. They cannot be left carrying the can, dealing with these types of crime. I also welcome the call for clearer laws on self-defence. Ordinary people must know where they stand. If someone threatens them, their family or their property, they should not be left wondering if they will be dragged through the courts for defending themselves. That needs to be clarified once and for all. Again, I support restorative justice but not instead of people facing penalties for crimes. It has to be in tandem, especially for repeat offenders. That is prevention in action. When a young person has to look at a victim in the eye and give something back to the community they have damaged, they will stop what they are doing.

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion and commend Deputy Gogarty and his staff on putting it together.

It often baffles me that when we had 9,000 and 10,000 gardaí on the streets or in the total force, there were local Garda stations. If anyone said they were not doing much, they knew everything that was going on in the area. They did not have to be taking out the book doing this one, that one and the other one. They were able to keep manners on the area in their own way. Sadly, it is gone now with the phone straight into the face if there is a garda anywhere the minute they do anything. That is not acceptable, to be quite frank about it. One time, if there was a robbery in a local rural area and if something was stolen or anything went wrong or if there was a bit of a scrap, the local garda sorted it out. They did not have to be going to the DPP many times; they would have it sorted out in a matter of hours. We have lost that. The change was done over the last seven or eight years. It was not in the Minister's time, in fairness. It was done before this. The way it went was they decided to start closing local Garda stations. As I always say, the local garda was always able to find out what was going on. When a robbery or something happened, what we call a crow on the wire gave the information and the local garda would know who was giving the information. We have lost all that.

Right around this country, there are youngsters flying around on these e-scooters with no insurance or anything. They can drive into anyone and there is no regulation. Where are we going with this? If we go out in a car or a tractor, we have to have insurance. These can just fly along out past you, go in through traffic and there is no regulation. I remember in the previous Dáil, there were supposed to be tags going onto repeat offenders so that it would be known where they were. Where has that gone? It seems to have disappeared. The prisons are full. There is no point in saying it. The Minister is not going to build a heap of them overnight. We understand that. Why have we not tagged these offenders with a tracker to know where they all are? It is a fairly simple thing to do. The sad part about it is that if a garda uses a baton now, he is called a criminal nearly, whereas at one time they used it and they kept manners on many a gouger who was getting out of hand and got them into line. On top of that, we need to start getting youngsters to show respect for the things we were brought up to show respect for. At the moment, as Deputy Gogarty said, there are gangs going around. Yes, we try to put in sports or youth club facilities or whatever facilities we can, but once we do that people still have to show respect. They cannot be going around in a mob around people such as the pregnant woman Deputy Gogarty mentioned or around other people. We cannot have that going on in a country.

Gardaí will not be everywhere around the place - there is no point in saying we will have them everywhere - but I remember the local garda or sergeant once being able to control the area. I know things have got more sophisticated and that there are different crimes that go on that were not investigated at one time. I understand all that but we have lost the touch of the common local knowledge. Local knowledge is what will tell you everything, from a local garda living in an area. At the moment, in my area between Headford and where I live, about 40 miles away, there will be one Garda car on at night. It does not have that resource. With the best will in the world, they cannot police an area or look after it. It is like Nanci Griffith's song "From a Distance". We knew all our gardaí one time in the area. Now, you would not have a bull's clue who is coming to you because they are coming from a different area. For the sake of the Minister's Department, we have to look outside the box. If a gang is going around, why not take the phones off them? Why not have that facility to know what is going on? Why not start laying down the law or putting tags on? It is becoming a revolving door. It is wasting serious amounts of Garda time and, as has been pointed out, gardaí are in the courts nearly all day. That is not solving anything. We need to look at that area as well. First, we need to give them whatever facilities we can to try to bring them with us, but if there are ones who are not listening or are not toeing the line, then it has to get sharper.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Gogarty and members of the Independent Technical Group for tabling this motion on antisocial behaviour. I am very aware of the impact that antisocial behaviour - many times it is criminal behaviour - has on individuals living in local communities. Regrettably, it appears to be the case that significant numbers of people who are engaged in antisocial behaviour, or the criminal behaviour I was talking about, are under the age of 18, which we refer to as children in our law. Notwithstanding that, the effects of antisocial behaviour are significant and the effects of criminal activity by children can be very specific and significant. It can result in people suffering from physical violence, theft of personal property, destruction of shared amenities or spaces and more hidden harms including individual or collective trauma, reluctance to report future incidents to the authorities for fear of retaliation and diminished feelings of pride or acceptance in one's local community.

That was very apparent to me from what Deputy Gogarty described as the instance he encountered in his community. It is important to emphasise, however, that the people involved in this type of behaviour are a small minority of people. I accept that their impact can be significant but in general most people in Ireland, and indeed most people under 18 years of age, are respectful and they recognise that Ireland should be, and remains, a safe community. We have a situation in Ireland where it is a pretty peaceful country. People might ask, "Where do you get that statistic from?" I get it from a global index of peacefulness throughout the world. The index that came out for 2025 indicated that Ireland was second in terms of peacefulness after Iceland. Notwithstanding this, I am conscious that this is no comfort to people who are subjected to consistent antisocial behaviour or criminal activity. It is for that reason the Government is very determined to tackle antisocial behaviour. The reason we are not opposing this motion is that very many of the proposals set forward by Deputy Gogarty in his motion are proposals we agree with and which we will seek to implement through the programme for Government.

It is important to point out that many things are being done to ensure that we can get on top of this issue of antisocial behaviour and criminal activity by people under 18 years of age or slightly over that age. As mentioned by Deputy Fitzmaurice, the most effective way of ensuring we have safe communities is to have a highly visible Garda presence in our communities. I am pleased to say that recruitment of members into the force is going in the right direction. I was at a passing-out ceremony in Templemore in August where 154 new recruits passed out. When we go up there in November, we are going to get to 200 recruits passing out then. Twice already this year, the intake into Templemore has been around the figure of 200. If I can get 200 as an intake into Templemore four or even five times a year, we will find ourselves getting the numbers up significantly in An Garda Síochána. At present we have 14,250 in the force. I want to see us get to 15,000. If we can get the good recruitment up and we get around 200 coming in from each intake, that will be very significant. I heard what Deputy Collins said about west Cork. In many instances he can blame his colleague behind him, Deputy O'Flynn, because 20 gardaí went to Cork city from the recruits who came out in August.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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What about the ones who retired?

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I do not get involved in allocating gardaí around the country-----

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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You will take the credit for it though.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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-----and it would be inappropriate for a Minister for justice to do so. The Garda Commissioner does take into account what the operational needs are in certain areas, and that is why he decides where the new recruits should be allocated. We will all work together to ensure we can get more gardaí into our communities.

It is also important to point out that the 2025 budget provided an unprecedented allocation of over €2.48 billion to An Garda Síochána. This is a 27% increase since 2020. The funding allows for the continued recruitment of gardaí. As I said, at present we have approximately 14,276 gardaí. The Deputy is right that we need to get them out into the community. Part of the way we can achieve that is by recruiting more civilian staff into the force to do the work that can be done by civilians. At present there are 3,675 civilian staff in An Garda Síochána. We have also made changes by increasing the age at which people can be recruited into An Garda Síochána. It used to be the case that a person had to be under 35. Now a person can apply for the job up to the age of 50 and we have extended mandatory retirement to 62. A new Garda recruitment campaign was launched at the Ploughing Championships by the Garda Commissioner and me on Tuesday. I would ask people to consider a career in the force. It is a very worthwhile career. It is a job in the public service and when people join the force, they very much enjoy it.

Other things that are being done include the establishment of community safety partnerships and increasing the community safety innovation fund to support that roll-out. People will be aware that under the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024, there will be 36 local community safety partnerships. These will play a central role in ensuring that local communities and the Garda are informed about where resources need to be targeted in order to confront antisocial behaviour. Members here will be aware of the community safety fund. It is a very significant asset. In 2024, over €3 million was allocated to projects nationwide. Themes from the 2024 successful applicants included projects aimed at addressing antisocial behaviour, domestic violence, drug-related intimidation and social inclusion.

I believe it was Deputy Fitzmaurice who mentioned that we need youth diversion programmes. One of the things I have noticed since I became the Minister for justice is all the excellent work being done in youth diversion programmes, and there is a lot of excellent work being done by the Probation Service. They probably do not publicise it enough - we do not get to hear about it enough - but a huge number of young people who get involved in the pathway of antisocial behaviour or criminal activity are diverted from it by the youth diversion initiatives. The Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, is beside me here and he plays a very central role in respect of that. A suite of interventions is available within the system, ranging from engagement with the diversion projects to the bail supervision scheme, the young person's probation and community sanctions. The Government has committed to a review of the Children Act. One of the many things mentioned here related to imposing responsibilities on the parents to a greater extent. Section 98 of the Children Act 2001 provides for a whole variety of sanctions that can be imposed by a court on children who are offenders and on the parents of those children as well. I am asking my Department to look at this again to ensure that the courts are aware and do in fact have a range of options available to them.

It is important to note that the Department funds 93 youth diversion projects that are community-based multi-agency youth crime prevention initiatives designed to divert young people who have been, or are at risk of becoming, involved in antisocial behaviour. By the end of this year, once we introduce the youth diversion projects in north Tipperary and east Clare, there will be full coverage of youth diversion projects across the country. This will be a significant achievement. I am aware that Members rightly want to focus on the antisocial behaviour and criminal activity of a small group, but there is availability there to resolve it by trying to get those kids into youth diversion programmes.

Deputy Fitzmaurice is right about local gardaí, and I think Deputy Collins said this as well, who play a central role. Having been in the job for nearly eight months now, my assessment of An Garda Síochána is that they do have this local knowledge. In places I go around the country, to Garda stations in Ballylinan, Carlow or Gorey, the gardaí have a good local knowledge. Community gardaí are a bit like a very successful local politician; they know their community and do their work on the ground. The youth diversion projects also work with schools and local communities. My Department liaises with the Department of Education and Youth to promote initiatives that encourage pro-social behaviour among our young people.

Almost €48 million was allocated under the UBU Your Place Your Space scheme in 2024. Budget 2025 secured an increase of 7%, so the funding is now €50.7 million. Money and resources are being allocated to deal with these children who are involved in antisocial behaviour.

I also take into account what Deputy Gogarty said about further legislation. There is a lot of legislation on the book at present to deal with this type of antisocial behaviour, whether it is the Criminal Damage Act 1991, the public order Act 1994, the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 or the theft and fraud Act. There are mechanisms available. If further legislative intervention is required, we will consider it. We do have to recognise, however, that this is a complex issue to respond to. I welcome the fact we are debating it here but we need that broader approach of education, policing and trying to get parents involved to ensure that we do not get young people on the path to criminality. The Minister of State, Deputy Collins, will stay here to deal with any responses.

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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I very much welcome the motion brought forward by my colleague Deputy Paul Gogarty. In recent weeks, the new Commissioner has taken office. It is really important to say that the previous Commissioner left the morale of the force in tatters. This is why the Minister for justice, Deputy O'Callaghan, now has a major job at hand in recruitment and retention in the force. I believe the first thing that needs to be reviewed is the new policing model, particularly in relation to the geographical areas. Mayo is in a district of the north west, with Roscommon and Longford.

5 o’clock

That is a span, from Blacksod Bay in the barony of Erris to the eastern side and the boundary with Longford, of over 200 km. It is a geographical region from one end to the other of more than three hours. It is no wonder, as Deputy Fitzmaurice mentioned, that gardaí do not feel supported with regard to their management and so on.

The subdistricts need to be reviewed as well. In my own area, if you look at east Mayo, Ballyhaunis is in the subdistrict of Ballina. If they have to detain a suspected criminal, they have to travel nearly an hour to bring that person into custody. That is unacceptable and it is causing a significant barrier to a proactive policing model that I think we all need.

The other issue here regards manpower. We have seen a significant reduction in the number of gardaí. I have been speaking to hundreds of gardaí over the last number of years, and right across every area and station of Mayo, the units have reduced by half. The regular units and stations in Mayo have reduced by half. Ten years ago, it was seven, eight, nine, ten gardaí per unit; now we are down to three or four. One of the big problems here relates to the new policing model. What the Minister has done is create specialised units. It has pulled from regular units and moved those gardaí away from the front line and away from community policing. What the Minister has done is unsustainable. If a shopkeeper wanted to expand his offering and offer coffee, for example, that shopkeeper would have to do an analysis around the capacity and perhaps recruit new staff to make that offering, but the Minister has not done that. As a result, he has left the remaining few to pick up the pieces because he has not planned for this. That must be addressed by the new Commissioner. It is really important that the Minister starts to listen to the rank-and-file gardaí because it is really unacceptable and disrespectful that the previous Minister and Commissioner disregarded one of the most emphatic votes of no confidence in the history of An Garda Síochána. In fact, it was the most emphatic: over 98% of the Garda rank and file voted a motion of no confidence, and the Minister of the day and the Commissioner shrugged their shoulders.

I ask the Minister to engage with the Commissioner and to review the geographical boundaries, both subdistricts and larger districts. The bureaucracy also needs to be reviewed. The IMS system needs to be analysed. I wonder why it has not been introduced into Dublin. Is it because that system would actually crash the force in Dublin? That is what is happening across rural Ireland as well.

It is also important that the force, in terms of the regular units, is beefed up to ensure the last remaining few - the three or four members of the units - are supported as well. Again, I thank Deputy Paul Gogarty for bringing this motion forward.

Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I thank Deputy Paul Gogarty for bringing forward this motion and giving us an opportunity to discuss antisocial behaviour. I may not agree with everything in the motion but I do agree with its sentiments. Basically, something needs to be done to address antisocial behaviour.

I agree with the Minister when he said that a lot of the stuff Deputy Gogarty spoke about was not antisocial behaviour but actually criminal activity. The phrase "antisocial behaviour" is often used to describe a myriad of low- to mid-level criminal activity. I want to be clear: low- to mid-level criminal activity is not antisocial behaviour. Drug dealing is not antisocial behaviour; it is criminal activity. Intimidation is not antisocial behaviour; it is a crime. Driving scramblers without tax and insurance on public roads is not antisocial behaviour; it is a crime. Shoplifting is not antisocial behaviour; it is a crime. Destruction of public playgrounds is not antisocial behaviour; it is a crime. Until we start treating these offences as crimes with real consequences, I am afraid there will just be an endless cycle of lawlessness in our communities.

We can deal with the cause of this criminal activity later but right now we must deal with the effect. We have too few gardaí in our communities. We have too few gardaí to prevent crime and to prevent young people from becoming involved in crime. We have too few gardaí in community policing and in roads policing. I listened to the Minister talking about recruitment and what he has done over the last while but the figures I have do not match up. For example, the figures I received in May of this year tell me there are 140 fewer gardaí in the Dublin metropolitan region than there were in 2020. The numbers are going down.

There was a lot of fanfare, when the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, came into office, about his recruitment drive. I saw him at the National Ploughing Championships at the weekend doing it again. It is all welcome but we are not seeing the results. Nothing has been done too in terms of increasing the number of gardaí available to police the streets of Dublin. In fact, since the Minister came into office in December, there has only been three additional gardaí in Dublin. The Minister promised 5,000 new gardaí over the lifetime of the Government and in year one he is already behind. Of the 1,000 gardaí he promised this year, even optimistic estimates will say he will be lucky to get 650, so we are already behind. This is simply not good enough. It is putting our communities at risk, and the failure to recruit new officers will inevitably lead to more overworked and overstretched gardaí leaving the force.

I was at a meeting during the week with a residents' association in Lucan who told me their concerns regarding criminal activity in their area. What I found out at that meeting was that there are now only four community gardaí in Ronanstown police station. This police station covers a vast area, including some of the areas with the highest disadvantage. The community gardaí in my area, who I know because there are only four of them, so it is very hard not to know them, do Trojan work but there are simply not enough of them. Radical overhaul of Garda recruitment is needed, including opening a second training centre, which will increase the recruitment to 1,500 gardaí a year. Is this something the Government will commit to?

Currently, the only detention centre in the State for young people is Oberstown Children Detention Campus. It is constantly at capacity. It is that much at capacity that it is like a tinderbox. We have seen and I have heard reports this year of violence against staff members. It only has the capacity to hold 46 young offenders. The consequence of it being at capacity is that young people who have committed serious crimes are being turned away and released back into our communities without the wraparound supports and the rehabilitation they need. Young people who probably should have been remanded in custody because of the serious nature of their crimes are given bail because of the capacity issue. Information I got very recently says that over the past three years, almost 3,000 crimes have been committed where the suspect was a young person already on bail. This figure is far too high. Our justice system needs to work better for our young people but also for our communities so everybody can feel safe.

A breakdown of some of those crimes committed by young people who were on bail is very stark. There were 61 incidents of attempts or threats to murder, assaults, harassment or related offences. This is when the suspect is a young person who was out on bail. I have always said that detention should be the last resort when it comes to young people, but when it comes to serious crime, what we are doing at the moment is simply not working.

One solution, which the Minister touched on, is enhancing the bail supervision scheme. I have seen first hand in my own area how this works and it just needs to be properly funded. There is also an argument to be made, and I would like the Minister to take this on board as well, that it should not be led by An Garda Síochána because the gardaí should be out on the streets policing our communities.

However, it could be led by either probation services or youth justice services to free up gardaí. Then again, they have to be properly resourced to do that job. If proper investment is made now in youth justice, probation, the bail supervision scheme and restorative justice services, it could stop the next generation from progressing from antisocial behaviour into being hardened criminals. However, we need to invest in the here and now. What our communities need here and now is more investment in gardaí and more gardaí on the streets so that we can keep our communities safe.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Too often when we talk about antisocial behaviour it is framed as an urban problem. However, the reality is that this is not just an issue for cities or large towns. Rural communities, small villages and settlements throughout the country are also experiencing the impact. Communities in every county want to feel safe. They want their young people supported and they want to know that the Government takes their concerns seriously. In my role as Sinn Féin spokesperson on rural affairs and community development I have heard these concerns echoed in every part of the State. In my own constituency of Waterford, both rural and urban communities tell me the same thing, which is that there is real frustration about the lack of a Garda presence and lack of support for community-based responses. At the heart of this there is a crisis in An Garda Síochána. People in communities tell me that they cannot see gardaí on the beat. We see this in the empirical evidence and the facts as presented to us in response to parliamentary questions. We see it on the ground too and anecdotally we know it to be true. In particular people do not see community gardaí, that is, the front-line presence that prevents crime, builds relationships and reassures people, that reaches out to young people and that can solve issues and identify them before they become larger issues and have negative impacts on communities.

The figures speak for themselves. At the end of December 2024 there were 14,191 serving members of An Garda Síochána. By the end of July this year the number stood at 14,254. That is a net increase of just 63 members in seven months. The Government's target of 1,000 new gardaí a year is simply not going to be met. Recruitment and retention remains the key crisis and the front-line deficit in gardaí is leaving our communities actually exposed and feeling exposed.

We cannot pretend this is just about Garda numbers. Antisocial behaviour has roots in deeper issues. Government after Government failed to tackle the causes, namely poverty, deprivation, chronic lack of investment in community development and youth services. Rural Ireland knows this as much as any city. For many young people there is nowhere to go, nothing to do and no structural support. That is not to excuse antisocial behaviour and it is certainly not to excuse criminality but it is not an accident either. It is a result of political choices to underfund youth work and community infrastructure, year on year. There are solutions such as gardaí youth diversion projects as mentioned already. They are proven to work but they remain underfunded and patchy in their availability. Outreach programmes that meet young people where they are should be expanded. Restorative justice referrals are back to pre-Covid levels, which is welcome, but we need to see more consistent use of these by the courts. The bail supervision programme should be properly resourced and led by the probation service, not the Garda. This would free up Garda time to be in communities, to be visible and accessible. Crucially, we must empower and resource local authorities to take a more active role in responding to antisocial behaviour where it presents.

Tackling antisocial behaviour requires more than headlines or short-term crackdowns. It requires gardaí in our communities, proper long-term, consistent investment in youth work, real support for families and local authorities with the capacity to intervene effectively. The Government has not delivered on any of this but it is time it did.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the opportunity to discuss the issue of antisocial and criminal behaviour in our communities. The reality is that every community experiences antisocial behaviour and criminal activity, some far more than others. Some of it is quite low level with noise and boisterous behaviour but in other cases, it is really serious criminal behaviour. Not a single TD on either side of this Chamber would disagree that we need more gardaí. We hear it constantly in this Chamber. We need them on the streets, working in communities to deal with this type of behaviour.

I have raised this point on many occasions and I will raise it again. It is about a specialised anti-scrambler unit to tackle the scourge of dangerous driving that has led to dozens of deaths and hundreds of life-changing injuries over the years. These units exist in Britain and in the European Union and they should exist here in Ireland. I cannot understand why, in 2025, we do not have any attempt to deal with this scourge. Every day we see in our streets young people putting our own lives and other people's lives in danger. Senior gardaí and gardaí on the streets tell us consistently that they are not allowed to deal with this. They are not allowed to chase them or engage with them in any form. Young people who are doing this therefore feel completely empowered to do whatever they want. Yet, the Government and senior gardaí sit on their hands.

Another issue relates to electric bikes. We see them all over the place, they can be rented but yet, gardaí are still cycling on pedal cycles. I live in a very large constituency in Dublin West and we still have gardaí peddling around on bikes when young people are on electric bikes taunting them. They absolutely taunt them every day. When are we going to catch up with the technology that is around?

Another example is drones. In Dublin 15, as I am sure Deputies are aware, we can order lunch or order a coffee and have it delivered to our house. The technology is absolutely incredible. Leaving aside the issue of noise and other concerns that we might have, the technology is there. For two years, I have questioned gardaí in relation to the Garda's capacity around drones. Eventually I was told 12 drones were bought and that some gardaí were trained on them. However, this is a reply I got from An Garda Síochána:

I am informed by Garda management that members of Garda air support unit were previously trained in the use of drones as part of the drone evaluation project. The evaluation concluded in 2023 and the drones are not currently in operational use pending legislative clarity.

So I can get my coffee and my lunch but gardaí cannot use drones because there is no legislative clarity. What a ridiculous answer. The Civil Defence uses them, as do the Army and the Navy. In fact, I can ring a specialist company to check out my roof to see whether it is leaking and where it is leaking. Yet, gardaí are blocked from using them or claim that there is no legislative clarity. This is another excuse from Garda management rather than helping and supporting the officers on the ground to do their job using technology. Any strategy to tackle antisocial behaviour is doomed to fail if it is not co-ordinated, if it is not multi-agency and if it has not got the backing of the community. If we are serious about tackling antisocial behaviour we should be talking about a massive investment in youth facilities, purpose-built dedicated spaces with highly qualified and trained youth workers. We need dedicated outreach youth teams to go to where the people are, to talk to them, to work with them and to engage with them in relation to any antisocial or criminal behaviour. Gardaí are not youth workers. They are not trained and they should not be doing that job. Let us free them up to do the job they are trained to do and that is to deal with serious criminal behaviour.

We need much more funding for early intervention with families who are experiencing difficulties or where children have experienced trauma. Young people are amazing. Every one of them should be and must be given the opportunity to reach their potential. If they do not, and unfortunately engage in criminal or antisocial behaviour, they must face the consequences. However, nothing I have seen in the 30 years of my community work, of professional work with young people and families, with those in addiction and with young people engaged in criminality convinces me that this Government or any Government I have seen in those 30 years, is or has been really serious about tackling criminal or antisocial behaviour. To explain why this is so, when the crash happened in 2007, 2008 and 2009 what were the first things that were absolutely decimated? Every single community, voluntary, charity organisation that deals with young people or addiction, that deals with early school leaving, were crushed. Yet, the bankers, developers and bondholders did not suffer. We know where the priorities are. We know where they lie. It is now time to deal with it. There are solutions out there. People out there are highly trained, highly professional people. Give them money, funding and the facilities to do that job and let us deal with those issues and help and support young people at the same time.

Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I thank Deputy Gogarty for bringing forward this motion and for bringing much-needed attention to this issue. Antisocial behaviour is a real and growing concern in all communities across this country. Far too many families, residents and businesses are living in fear of some of the behaviour that they see on their doorsteps. I want to talk not so much about antisocial behaviour as a nuisance; I want to talk about crime. I recently met a group of shopkeepers from right across the city of Limerick who are concerned about a spate of shoplifting that has become endemic. There was a 180% increase in shoplifting in Limerick between 2003 and 2024, with a particular issue with repeat offenders. Some shopkeepers have said to me that shoplifting happens every 30 to an 60 minutes each day. It extends beyond mere theft. The shoplifters are often aggressive and extremely abusive. There was a recent incident in a local shop whereby a prolific shoplifter who is well known ran at a retail worker, screaming, "I will belt you with a Stanley blade."

In March 2024 in Limerick, there were 22 community gardaí, which is a whopping decrease from the 92 we had in 2008. Hallowe'en is of particular concern in that regard. It is clear that something has gone wrong and that the current systems are not working to keep our communities safe. If we are to tackle this issue, we must be clear about what is driving the crisis. Years of Government inaction has left us with hollowed out community policing, an overstretched court system and persistently underfunded youth work organisations. While additional gardaí were recently allocated to Limerick, we still have fewer gardaí than we had 17 years ago, despite a population growth of 23% in the intervening period. We need to invest and recommit ourselves to community policing. People want to see gardaí on the streets. They want to know their local community garda. They want to feel safe in their communities.

We also have issues in the context of youth work. We need a commitment from the Government in the budget to invest in and value youth work. We need targeted investment and better support to hold onto the talented staff who work each day to support the young people in our communities.

This motion also touches on the influence of social media in driving antisocial behaviour. I referenced this point during the debate on migration. We in the Labour Party are clear that it is absolutely vital we protect our children and young people with effective regulation to keep them safe online. Of course, there is no silver bullet to the problem of antisocial behaviour, but Deputy Gogarty is correct to point out the role that social media and harmful algorithms are playing in driving the disruption we see in our communities. I see, for example, young people who are going on TikTok and having things pushed on them that are inherently harmful. They are having things pushed on them that I, as somebody in his early 30s and not that old, struggle to understand. That is important. We need the Government to drive investment in digital literacy to ensure that young people and their parents become fully digitally literate. All of us, me included, were shocked when we saw the Netflix film "Adolescence", which was clever in drawing attention to this issue.

Antisocial behaviour is leaving many communities living in fear. We must be clear about what we need to do to remedy the situation. We need to invest more in youth diversion and community policing. We also must ensure, as the commitment in the programme for Government states, that we see the establishment of the public transportation police. I know the Minister of State is working on it. We in Limerick have had a spate of issues in recent months, particularly with the 303 bus in the city. Windows have been smashed. Drivers have been subjected to verbal abuse and threats. One driver was even shot at with a pellet gun. SIPTU has threatened to pull its drivers from this route a number of times. This route at one stage had a security van following the bus through a local estate. This is extremely concerning. We know that instances of attacks on transport workers have gone through the roof in recent years. I want greater urgency from the Government on this issue. People should have an assurance that their morning commute will be safe and peaceful, just as drivers and staff should be able to go to work in dignity and safety.

George Lawlor (Wexford, Labour)
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I thank Deputy Gogarty for introducing this motion. The scourge of antisocial behaviour, as people who have served in politics at local and national levels know, has resulted in the ruination of communities, housing estates and neighbourhoods. That is the result of a small minority of people who are intent on creating havoc. This is a time when housing, for instance, is at a premium. This particular motion refers to young people. When they see the older generation being able to get away with what they are often getting away with, it sends out a hopelessly wrong signal. Distress is caused to neighbours and neighbourhoods. People act with impunity because the Garda appears powerless and without the resources to deal with the behaviour, particularly when it is carried out by young people. Despite the best efforts of housing officers, tenant liaison officers and other officials, local authorities are almost afraid to tackle the issue given the hoops to which they must jump to get people who are causing antisocial behaviour out of an area.

I am not talking about harmless messing, as has been alluded to. I am talking about threats, drug dens, drug parties, fighting and people who abuse those live around them. There is also abuse of gardaí and the emergency services. This has gone on for years. I have seen cases whereby housing authorities, including approved housing bodies, eventually get to a stage where they evict someone, after many years, only for the person to appeal the eviction. They have gone to court for cases where the housing authority or approved housing body has the backing and support of the Garda. I have seen judges rule in favour of the people who have been evicted on the basis that there was no evidence despite the fact that years' worth of evidence had been stockpiled and the gardaí were there to support the people who were complaining and the authorities.

I have also seen agencies that deal with homelessness put people into very nice estates and abandon them. People who suffer from addiction are put into places with no wraparound services and are offered no follow-up. They are left there to create havoc as the result of their addiction or mental health issues. There are no wraparound services or supports and the antisocial behaviour that follows is chronic and criminal.

We need to enhance greatly the powers available to local authorities. We need to support them. We need to ensure that local authorities go after people who are engaged in antisocial behaviour, especially in local authority housing estates. The private sector also has issues that we need to tackle but we need to support our local authorities and the agencies that provide housing for people and go after people who are destroying their communities.

In Wexford recently, we managed to get rid of a drug den that was the cause of antisocial behaviour on a daily basis. The parents of the children who lived in the area said that for the first time ever, those children were able to play and felt safe playing on the local green. That was the level of devastation brought to that area by a handful of people intent on ruining the lives of others. The perpetrators are often laughing at the authorities because they know it takes years and a massive build-up of evidence before they can tackle an issue. We need that to stop.

With regard to CCTV, you nearly have to give away your first-born child to get it enhanced or improved. There are something like 48 steps if you want to do so. I saw this in Wexford. This really must be tackled and we must give the powers to the people who need them.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I acknowledge the speakers who brought the motion to the Dáil but I will not be supporting it. I will not say it contains no good ideas but it loses all reason where it refers to the temporary removal of personal items such as PlayStations, Xboxes and smartphones. Are we serious here? Am I right to believe the Government is not opposing a motion that calls for someone to go into somebody's house and take away their PlayStation? Who exactly? A garda? Is the Government messing? Are we not serious people here? I hear progressive parties across the Chamber say they welcome the motion. Let us get a grip on ourselves here. This is a serious issue and it is worthy of debate, but as we debate it let us actually bring some substance and evidence because it currently makes us all look ridiculous.

The motion is similar to ones that we have spoken about consistently in this Chamber. The cause of antisocial behaviour is the symptom of something much deeper and greater, or what is essentially a perpetual cycle of failure by the State to apply some sort of reason or evidence base and step away to ask what it can actually do to solve the issue. We will not be supporting the motion because it is not grounded in evidence and is ridiculous. It ignores the real results that come when we invest in young people.

Instead of supporting the motion, I want to take the time to talk about deeper, systemic failures. If these were addressed, it could end so-called antisocial behaviour or turn the tide on it. Essentially, our prisons are overcrowded. Someone referred to Oberstown being full and the conditions there in which young people are expected to live and, hopefully, be rehabilitated. Staff are supposed to actually go about their day there. It costs half a million euro per year to keep just one young person in Oberstown. Would that money not be better reinvested to address what causes a young person to be in a situation like that? This would be a better use of public money and a better means of realising the outcome we all have in mind here, which is making our streets safer and breaking the perpetual cycle.

The evidence is right in front of us. In our communities, mine being no exception, great projects are doing amazing work to counter the tide of antisocial behaviour, the violence that goes with it and the fear among residents who are asked to live where it occurs. There are genuine projects working on a fraction of half a million euro per year and doing really great work. I want to talk to the Minister of State about a couple of them.

Belvedere Youth Club, in my constituency, has a programme called Diamond, a youth justice initiative guided by restorative practice and strengths-based and collaborative approaches for young people in the criminal justice system. The project can deal with about 15 young people. If it were resourced to the extent of half a million euro per year, it could probably turn the number into 30; however, the approach is to keep doing the same old thing.

At Bradóg Youth Service, the youth workers have created the most innovative ways of engaging with kids regarding their behaviour, showing them the consequences of drug running and dealing in a way that is not just about sitting them down to give a lecture. We know from Nancy Reagan that does not work. What they actually do is talk to young people and engage with them on their terms. This actually interrupts the cycle of violence. Bradóg is struggling to survive because of extortionate rent and is at constant risk of closing. For half of the half a million euro we spend to keep just one young person in Oberstown, we could probably keep many out of it. Not only that, but there is such a pittance of a maintenance budget that the most at-risk young people are walking to a service down a dingy lane past drug paraphernalia.

My time is up. I could go on all day.

Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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I will pick up where Deputy Gannon has left off. For nearly 20 years, I was a professional youth worker and a hoodie was my uniform. I thought today would be a very important day to don that uniform again. In the same way that I have tried to defend and advocate on behalf of young people who are all too often on the receiving end of negative stereotyping and rhetoric, it feels right that I wear this hoodie.

If Deputy Gogarty had spent with children and young people throughout this country a fraction of the time I have spent with them in the last 20 years, he would never have considered putting pen to paper to produce the biggest heap of nonsense I have seen. I am beyond disappointed to see the Government and some in opposition supporting the idea of curfews, fines for parents and seizing PlayStations and Xboxes, as if that would achieve something. Frankly, it is utter nonsense. Who is Deputy Gogarty trying to represent when he comes up with this? He does not know what he is talking about. He has, on purpose, chosen to conflate antisocial behaviour and crime. If someone commits a crime, there is a clear statutory process; however, if passed, the Deputy's motion would simply reduce young people's rights and freedoms. I dare him to volunteer in his local youth club or youth service and to spend some time with children and young people rather than talk about them like he knows what he is talking about. They will tell him they are sick and tired of being stereotyped, sick and tired of this rhetoric.

They are paid a sub-minimum wage and cannot access mental health services. These are the issues that matter. I cannot believe the Government is not amending the motion. I am shocked.

Rory Hearne (Dublin North-West, Social Democrats)
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I wish to speak broadly about the issues concerning antisocial behaviour. I represent the communities of Finglas, Ballymun, Beaumont and Dublin North-West. The problems of antisocial behaviour are caused fundamentally by deep inequalities in our society, poverty, and the neglect of communities. There is a lack of investment in communities, youth services, drug services, community employment and public safety. Communities needs investment. They have been abandoned and have been left to deal with intergenerational trauma. What we need to see in places like Ballymun and Finglas is real investment in diversion and supports for young people, giving them hope and involving them, and in services, schools and, in particular, the communities.

I was at community safety meetings in Finglas and Ballymun this week. People are looking for community gardaí, visible gardaí. The number of gardaí available in north Dublin is way behind that in other parts of the city and country. Fundamentally, we need an approach that values these communities and gives the children who grow up in them an equal right to a safe community and a future that includes and involves them and gives them support so they can live a life equal to that of anybody else in this country.

Jen Cummins (Dublin South Central, Social Democrats)
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When I read this Private Members' motion, I was genuinely taken aback by elements of it. I am flabbergasted that it was put forward in its current format and even more flabbergasted that the Government is going to support it. It looks like a group of people who hate young people got together to blame them for all the antisocial behaviour and crime that happens in this country. I have worked with children and young people since 1998 in many different roles. I was a youth worker and was also a researcher in this area, and I have to say my expertise is high. I just wish that the people who drafted this motion had actually consulted experts – not me but others – who had talked to youth workers and indeed young people, or even visited a youth service or Garda youth diversion project.

The temporary removal of personal items such as PlayStations, Xboxes and smartphones for consistent reported antisocial behaviour is proposed. Is it a nanny state that is wanted? In what country has this been suggested? In what country has this worked? It is ignorant and patronising, and it is also paternalistic.

With regard to restorative justice, the associated line in the motion makes me think its supporters have no idea what it actually means. If you want to pay back any damages, that is not how you start with restorative justice. It is about the victim, the offender and the community. Research has just come out stating a ban on social media for under-16s is not the way forward. Other Deputies have talked about algorithms and making social media companies accountable.

I am not saying that parents, young people and all those things do not have to be taken into consideration. I am not saying there is not antisocial behaviour. I am saying this Private Members' motion does not address it fully.

It is great to see that better school attendance monitoring is referenced in the motion but a sentence is not a solution. I have worked in this area for a long time and would love to know what the solution is. I am happy to see that an increase in Garda youth diversion funding is mentioned. I would welcome that.

Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)
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The prevention of antisocial behaviour requires a wide range of social, economic and community actions. These include education, training, employment, income, social inclusion, community activities and policing.

Garda policing is one of the most essential elements in tackling antisocial behaviour. For a start, we must be open, upfront and honest about the number of gardaí available to police our streets and communities. We had a bizarre situation recently in south Tipperary, where two Government Oireachtas Members announced four additional gardaí for Clonmel Garda station. It turns out that is not true. Why? The station had lost five gardaí to transfers and a retirement, so the net effect was the loss of two gardaí and two fewer gardaí to serve the people of Clonmel. Misleading announcements such as this are unacceptable and the individuals concerned should be ashamed of themselves.

I asked the Minister, by way of a parliamentary question, the number and rank of gardaí serving at Clonmel Garda station on 1 July and 1 September of this year. This morning, I got a rambling non-answer telling me to go to a website, click on a link and push a button, but that also indicated, "Sorry, we do not have the details for that date and, by the way, the Minister has no responsibility." I regard that answer as mischievous. Why can the Minister not be upfront about Garda numbers? Clonmel is a large town - a small city in fact - with an extensive hinterland, including the towns of Fethard, Kilsheelan, Clerihan and Lisronagh, and parts of County Waterford. It also has responsibility for the Carrick-on-Suir area. There are approximately 10,000 people in that town and district. This is a town that had a full-time Garda station and 16 gardaí up to recent years. It now has a part-time station with four gardaí. The Clonmel station does not have enough gardaí to put gardaí on the beat. I will repeat that - the Clonmel station does not have enough gardaí to put gardaí on the beat. It operates on a unit of six. The station needs to be staffed by enough gardaí to operate on a unit of ten. Will the Minister of State make sure that the numbers are allocated to Clonmel to ensure it has enough gardaí to operate on units of ten and put gardaí on the beat?

Community gardaí are another essential element in tackling and preventing antisocial behaviour but, over the past few years, community policing has been effectively dismantled, particularly since the introduction of the new Garda districts. I attended a briefing on the new Garda districts by the now retired Garda Commissioner. It was immediately clear to me that community policing was going to take a huge hit. It was not a priority for the Commissioner or Garda authorities. Of course, I was assured I was wrong and that would not happen, but the figures do not lie. Nationally, in 2010, there were 1,182 community gardaí. At the end of 2024, there were 700, which is a reduction of 40%. In Tipperary, it is even worse. In 2010, we had 108 community gardaí; they are now in single figures. There is just one community garda serving the town of Clonmel. I will repeat that - there is just one community garda serving the town of Clonmel.

Community policing is invaluable in building up relationships with communities, building trust with communities and individuals within those communities and, crucially, building up relationships, trust and friendship with young people through becoming involved in local activities, local residents' associations and youth clubs. It is about community gardaí being seen and being active in their community. As a result, crime and antisocial behaviour are prevented and, importantly, gardaí are able to identify at an early age young people who might tend to stray. All this has been lost. The few community gardaí left work above and beyond and are stretched to the limit. A new priority must be given to community policing, with gardaí working from the ground up in partnership with communities and young people. This requires the recruitment of a significant number of community gardaí in the future.

Visibility of gardaí on the beat is crucial. Gardaí must be seen walking the streets of our towns and villages. Unfortunately, too many of our town and city centres are being abandoned to antisocial behaviour, drug use and drug dealing. There is now a reluctance by many people to walk our streets. They routinely see antisocial behaviour, drug use and drug deals. Those participating in these activities are often known to the public and the Garda authorities, but the position is becoming normalised as little or no action is taken. Gardaí on the beat are vital to the security and safety of the public. The Government must do better.

I will take this opportunity to thank the various youth and community organisations operating with young people across the country, particularly in south Tipperary. I commend the Waterford & South Tipperary Community Youth Service, which has been operating for over 50 years delivering community-based services and youth services across Waterford and south Tipperary. These services include community projects, Garda youth diversion projects, community-based drugs initiatives, LGBT services, drug outreach services, information services and local training initiatives. In Clonmel, the service has three centres in Elm Park, at the Wilderness, in Carrigeen, and in Irishtown. I also thank Youth Work Ireland Tipperary, which covers the west of south Tipperary and east Limerick. This organisation deals with young people aged between eight and 25 years. It operates a series of youth clubs right across the county and does absolutely excellent work with young people. I commend the Le Chéile youth mentoring service. This is a volunteer-led service mentoring young people, which is a core service of Le Chéile. It works with young people between the ages of 12 and 24, who have either committed an offence or are at risk of committing an offence. It meets on a weekly basis with these young people in an informal setting to help and support them to make positive changes in their lives. These organisations do excellent work. I commend them on that.

Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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Go raibh míle maith ag Deputy Gogarty for bringing the motion to the House. It concerns something we all see across this Chamber in emails we constantly get about antisocial behaviour. The people of Dublin Bay North are raising it with me every single week. Just this week, a parent in Raheny wrote to me to tell me about masked teenagers on e-scooters and scramblers and open drug dealing outside a crèche. I am being told by different representatives that nothing can and will be done. The sense of powerlessness this parent had when I called to their house was not acceptable. On another occasion, across the constituency, we saw vigilante gangs of people. I do not blame these young people.

They have nothing else to do. That is the real issue. We are not investing in young people's futures. We want to see prevention officers going out on the streets, talking to these young people and giving them other options. I bring it back to the analogy that is constantly used for homelessness but could also be used for antisocial behaviour. If we constantly see people floating down the river, we take them out eventually. Eventually we go to the top of the river and ask why they are jumping in in the first place. We need to prevent people falling into the river of crime and antisocial behaviour and give them options other than going into drug dealing or robbing houses. I will push the Government to do this.

It always starts with prevention. Too many young people in north Dublin are involved in antisocial behaviour. It is because they have nothing to do after school. They leave school too early - at the age of 16, 17 or even 14. It is horrible to see. I have spoken to young mothers in Artane, Raheny, Clontarf and Coolock who do not know what to do with their children who have left school. Significant developments are taking place in Coolock Development Centre and I congratulate everyone involved in it. Great things are happening in youth work in north Dublin but they are underfunded and understaffed. Sphere 17 in Darndale is really struggling so I ask the Minister of State to give it the funding it deserves. I will bring people from Sphere 17 to the House next week and I look forward to speaking to them.

We spoke about immigration and migration earlier and the significant matter of the Crown Paints site in Coolock. I look at that site now and ask what could be done to it to help the community and target antisocial behaviour. It would be great to see it being used as an extension of the Coolock Development Centre to give young people who have left school early the option to get into the trades. Some people are not designed for school and that is very evident. We should give them the option of getting into the trades, entering apprenticeships and setting up their own businesses to keep them away from trouble.

Scramblers and e-bikes are another issue. I was driving two nights ago when a young lad came down a one-way street towards me on an e-scooter who was easily going 50 km/h or 60 km/h. It was dark and rainy. These children are not just putting other people at risk; they are also putting themselves at risk. I would be very upset if I heard another story like the one I heard when I knocked on a door last week. I was talking to an elderly lady who asked me to target these scooters and e-bikes. I asked her what sparked this issue and she told me a horrifying story of a young man who lost his life coming through Fairview Park four or five years ago. This cannot be ignored. It is something we need to target. From speaking to police, I know there is legislation in place but police are struggling to enforce it so we need to support gardaí.

Communities will also play a role. Investment in local community groups across Dublin Bay North needs to be fair. Sanctions need to be there. The northside has been neglected for too long. It is something I have spoken about constantly in this Chamber. Members have heard me time and time again.

I will sum it up as prevention where we can and firm actions when we must. We need a future that gives young Irish people a real alternative. I hope Deputy Brabazon will support me in looking for more investment in the northside. I see him nodding to me. It is something I have heard him talk about with e-scooters and antisocial behaviour - information coming to both our email addresses.

The budget is coming. We need more funding for youth diversion projects, funding for technical and trade education on the northside and proper resourcing for community policing. The parents emailing are right to expect better. Our communities deserve better.

Tom Brabazon (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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I commend Deputy Gogarty on tabling the motion, which is very timely. It reflects a lot of the commitments in the programme for Government, which the Minister is very committed to implementing. Much of the behaviour we see around north Dublin is not antisocial behaviour. We should call it what it is - crime. Changing the term to antisocial behaviour seems to downgrade it and dilutes effective responses to it so we need to call it what it is. It is crime. It damages public spaces, discourages positive community use and can drive people indoors away from our public open spaces and make these spaces even more dangerous as a result of lack of footfall. It deeply affects vulnerable groups such as the elderly, children and people with disabilities.

I would like to see meaningful consequences, particularly for those under 18, for those involved in this type of offending. I take the point that more investment and diversion - all of the issues mentioned by Deputy Heneghan mentioned - are needed. This is without a shadow of a doubt. However, we cannot put it all down to that. Far more responsibility falls on the individuals who live under the roof of adults who do not seem to know what is happening to their own children, which is unacceptable. If offenders face no accountability or consequences, they become emboldened and continue such harmful behaviour. I can tell the House about parts of my constituency where a feral gang goes in and out of an apartment complex and have literally taken over the common areas. They defecate, urinate, sell drugs, charge up their e-bikes and e-scooters, go out on the streets and cause the problems described by Deputy Heneghan all over Dublin Bay North. This behaviour is unacceptable. I listened to Paul Reid at a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Drugs Use. He put it very eruditely that the drugs problem seems to affect many of our more vulnerable members of society. Unfortunately, the problem is found more in areas with social housing than in other areas. Drugs affect all of society but it is very much concentrated in areas with social housing. There is a connection between our ineffective antisocial behaviour policies that are not implemented properly and our local authorities and approved housing bodies. Much more work needs to be done. In light of our housing crisis, if we had effective antisocial behaviour policies, it would remove the fear regarding social housing developments going ahead in new areas. This is something that needs to be examined and we need to move on it without further delay.

Early intervention reduces the risk of minor antisocial behaviour escalating into criminal activity. I take the point about the numbers of community gardaí falling. The Minister is working on increasing the numbers of gardaí and there will be a consequential increase in that. I also welcome the efforts by him and the Minister for Transport regarding transport police. That is really timely because an antisocial and criminal element has taken to public transport to sell drugs and engage in nefarious activities.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Gogarty for raising this issue, acknowledge the contributions of all speakers and reiterate that the Government is not opposing this motion. There has been significant interest in this motion and it is an area we take very seriously. We are all in agreement about the need to address the root causes and impact of antisocial behaviour. The harm this behaviour causes communities can be significant. As Minister of State with responsibility for international law, law reform and youth justice, I am committed to supporting the Minister and other Government colleagues to continue driving forward the commitments set out by the Government to tackle antisocial behaviour and crime in our communities.

A number of measures are proposed for assessment in this motion that require very careful consideration from a legal and operational point of view. However, the spirit of these suggestions is something on which we can all agree. Nobody should live in fear in their community and this Government is committed to taking appropriate, effective action to address antisocial behaviour. As the Minister highlighted earlier, this Government is actively progressing actions to align with those proposed for assessment in this motion.

6 o’clock

These include measures to further increase An Garda Síochána member and staff numbers, establish local community safety partnerships, continued diversion of young people away from crime, enactment of legislation to combat antisocial behaviour and continued cross-departmental collaboration to tackle underlying causes of antisocial behaviour.

In addition to these I can also assure Deputies numerous other initiatives are being progressed that have as an objective the reduction of antisocial behaviour and that align with the measures proposed in the motion. For instance, the Government has committed to increasing the use of CCTV to enable local authorities to install new CCTV schemes. The Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Act 2023, which was signed into law in December 2023, provides for a new regime for the authorisation and operation of CCTV schemes. There is a new requirement under that Act for the Garda Commissioner to develop a code of practice for CCTV. I am advised by Garda authorities that work is ongoing with respect to the development of this code of practice. Following the publication of the new code of practice local community safety partnerships will be the appropriate avenue for discussion of community CCTV. I am further advised by the Garda authorities that the Garda is currently working on a new CCTV strategy that will outline how CCTV infrastructure utilised by the Garda can be modernised and integrated with other CCTV infrastructure throughout the State. It is hoped the implementation of a modernised CCTV platform for An Garda Síochána can commence in 2026.

I can also assure Deputies the Government is resolute in its commitment to tackle the issue of retail crime and to protecting retail workers, who provide an essential service in our communities. I am acutely aware of the personal and economic impact both physical and verbal assaults have on retail staff and their families. The programme for Government includes the examination of the introduction of a specific offence of an assault on a retail worker. The development of legislation is a complex task that requires consideration of all the potential implications of any change in the law. Work to progress the commitments within the programme for Government has commenced and I am happy to engage in further discussions on proposals for the protection of retail workers.

It is important, in particular in my capacity as the Minister of State with responsibility for youth justice, that I highlight the progress that has been made in implementing actions in the Youth Justice Strategy 2021–2027, which undoubtedly play a positive role in addressing concerns around antisocial behaviour. Diversion continues to be at the core of the youth justice system and its success can be measured through the reduction in the number of young people coming to the attention of An Garda Síochána. The Youth Justice Strategy 2021–2027 has as a priority enhanced engagement and intervention with children and young people who are most at risk of involvement in criminal activity. There is currently a network of 93 youth diversion projects, or YDPs as we call them, operating across the State. Services have expanded to include dedicated early intervention, family support and hard-to-reach youth justice workers. On average YDPs engage between 3,500 and 4,000 young people across the State in any one year. As such, they are a fundamental support to the operation of the statutory Garda diversion programme and provide a vital service in enhancing community policing partnerships. There is a strong evidentiary basis for the effectiveness of our current youth justice regime, with a 2023 evaluation concluding youth diversion projects impact positively on areas linked to reduction of crime and re-offending. Furthermore, since the introduction of the Children Act, recorded criminal offences by people under 18 years of age have reduced by 44%. This reduction correlates with an increased youth diversion budget, which has been doubled from €18 million in 2020 to just over €36 million in 2025. There is a link between youth diversion investment and significant reductions in the number of children being prosecuted or detained. This is testament to the success of youth diversion, as fewer children are progressing to the adult prison system. Our Department is continuing work to enhance the range of interventions applicable to reduction in youth crime, including measures to engage with the harder-to-reach cohort of young people who are actively engaged in criminality, which will in turn make our communities safer.

I will pick up on a number of issues that were raised as part of the debate. Mention was made of the bail supervision scheme. To clarify for the benefit of Members, this is a scheme which is not run by An Garda Síochána. However, it is overseen by our Department. The scheme is carried out by two youth justice service providers, with referrals mostly coming from the courts. The Probation Service will in future take over supervision of that scheme.

Reference was made to the commitment in the programme for Government to a public transportation police service. That is being advanced between the Department of justice and the Department of Transport. The Ministers have had a number of meetings and official engagement between the two Departments is ongoing. That is being advanced and will be delivered early within the lifetime of this Government.

On the ongoing recruitment campaign An Garda Síochána has undertaken, another recruitment drive was announced by the Minister, Deputy O’Callaghan, two days ago at the National Ploughing Championships. I encourage anybody interested in engaging with that campaign to apply. People can apply online. Serving your country and your community through the Garda is a fantastic career and I would encourage anybody to do that. I was delighted to see the increase in the number of people who applied in the last campaign and I am delighted to see an increase in the intake and the output from Templemore of probationer gardaí attesting out of the college and into our communities. In my county of Limerick we recently received 20 new probationer gardaí from Templemore, which was really welcome. Unfortunately that good news was misrepresented, because there is always a city-county dynamic in Limerick and Deputy O’Flynn’s colleague, Deputy O’Donoghue, tried to present it as the city winning over the county. If he bothered to look at the detail, which is very important in these things, he would see when probationer gardaí come to Limerick they go to Henry Street or Roxboro Road. That allows senior Garda management scope to push more experienced gardaí into the county, which is my constituency, to police it. I have confirmed that is happening with senior Garda management in Limerick, so to say Limerick city is benefitting and the county is being left behind or somehow not being significantly policed with the resources the chief superintendent has available to him is simply not true and misrepresents the situation.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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I will address the Minister of State's last point first. He and his Department are very good at misrepresenting a number of facts as well. Earlier his senior Minister stood in the Chamber and told Deputy Collins it was Ken O'Flynn's fault for securing 20 gardaí to Cork city. Getting 20 gardaí for Cork city is more than welcome, but the Minister failed to recall how many people have retired and left the force as well. Those figures are not being released by the Minister of State's Department on a regular basis. The Department is great with fanfare and announcements, whether in Limerick, Cork or Dublin, about how many new gardaí there are but it never releases the figures for how many are retiring, how many are replacing and how many others have left the force. I have seen piles of them leave the force. It is great to see a Garda recruitment drive, it absolutely is-----

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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It is not a secret.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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Excuse me, Minister, I am speaking. You have been longer in the House, so you know the rules the House. I am speaking now.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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It is not a secret.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Please, allow the Deputy to speak.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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It is not a secret when you refer-----

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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The Minister of State mentioned the Garda drive and the Garda-----

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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-----to publicly available information.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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A Cheann Comhairle, would you speak to him, please?

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Please let the Deputy speak.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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Would you ask the Minister of State to have a small bit of respect for me and for the people I represent in my city?

The Minister of State spoke about drives for Garda recruitment, which is all very welcome, but those gardaí have to be supported by the Government. We continually see gardaí leaving the force and going to work in Eli Lilly, Abtran or one of these businesses because it is safer for them and because they do not feel that they are being supported. It is not their fellow gardaí but they are not getting support from senior management and from the Government. I do not blame senior managers because the Government is not providing enough services to help gardaí do their jobs.

Thankfully most of us will not go through violent, vicious attacks in life but most people I know in my constituency and around the country will suffer antisocial behaviour in some way, whether it is the keying of the car, the guy driving his quad bike over someone's roses or through their garden, the guy who has broken the window or the young fellow who has knocked on someone's door and done something naughty or the rest of it or the people who are going out and doing worse. I previously told the Minister of State in this House that an eight-year-old child, well known to the Garda, is being used for drug trafficking in Cork city. He is rewarded with bottles of Coke and a couple of bags of sweets. That is how difficult things have got in parts of the city that I represent and nothing can be done.

Many people here on the extreme left and of the left persuasion have been talking about the hug-a-thug idea, suggesting that we have to put in this facility and that facility, and we have to spend more money on this, that and the other. I agree that we have to invest in our young people. However, we have fantastic hurling and football clubs, tennis clubs and other sports clubs. We have fantastic speech, drama and all those type of clubs around my city, but there is still a cohort involved in antisocial behaviour and we cannot get them out of it. Where are their parents? When did it become the State's responsibility to mind their children? When did it become the State's responsibility to say, "We have to take over"?

I do agree with the notion that a village has to rear a child, but come off it. I am sick to death of hearing, "It's not my Johnny. It's not my Mary." It's about time that the Government got tough on those who commit violent offences and what we're calling antisocial behaviour which is terrorising elderly people in communities, destroying other people's lives, knocking on doors demanding money from people, knocking on doors saying, "We're going to get your young fella at school tomorrow unless you give us this, that and the other," knocking on doors and saying, "Your child owes us money for drugs." They are sending under-18-year-olds to doors to do this. Why are they doing it? They are doing it because they cannot be prosecuted. That is the reality of it. That is the reality of what life is now in certain parts of not just Cork but Dublin and Limerick as well. I am sure if the Minister of State were not so removed from reality, he might know it himself. The reality for many people is that their lives are a living hell and nobody is responsible for it because they are under 18. When did we decide that because someone is under 18 and is a menace to society, they should get away with it? The ASBO idea you brought out-----

Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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That is not true.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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I am speaking, please. You had your time.

Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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The Deputy should speak the truth.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Deputies, please let him speak.

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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The ASBOs brought out in the nineties, championed by Fianna Fáil at the time, have not worked. Gardaí do not have the time to go and check on young men and young women with ASBOs to see if they are in their houses. We have to look at the best practice and standards of Iceland, which introduced a curfew.

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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I welcome that the Government is not opposing this motion which is hugely welcome. As I said at the start, some work has been done but we need a lot more. Some of the wording of this motion is actually time-based. It proposes taking some of the suggestions here - my suggestions, other people's suggestions and the Government's own ideas - putting them together and coming up with a plan in the next six months to move forward. That is what I what I hope will come out of this.

I thank my constituency colleague, Deputy Mark Ward, for his general support of the motion. I accept that some of the activities that I referenced and he referenced are indeed criminal rather than purely antisocial behaviour. I had three reasons to describe them as such. First, a lot of people generally call them antisocial behaviour. Second, some of the perpetrators are under 12, under the age of criminal responsibility. Third, the aim of consequences is to try to keep people out of the criminal justice system and give them a couple of nudges before they actually get involved. In that context, I welcomed Deputy Donnelly's contribution about the use of drones and other positive contributions from Members. Not every contribution was positive. I noted that the Social Democrats decided that they are not going to support the motion and called it nonsense, ostensibly, from what I can gather, by reading one line of the motion.

Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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I read the whole-----

Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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You are no Deputy Stagg; please let me continue.

At the start of my contribution on the motion, I mentioned that we needed action to deal with the causes of crime. I have spoken about that many times. I previously referenced the Garda numbers but this is a motion purely on the consequences for antisocial behaviour. Again the Social Democrats said this is a very offensive motion to young people. Let us go back to the motion we had on keeping children out of crime back in March or April. We found that only 2% of children have come before the authorities, which means that 98% of our young people are decent law-abiding citizens going about their business and they need our support. The final line of my speech that day was "Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí".

As someone who was instrumental in getting education cuts reversed when everything was being torn to shreds during the economic crisis, I know well about the investment in tackling the causes. God knows how many times I have mentioned the HighScope Perry preschool project about how every €1 of investment in quality early education has a €7 return. We know we need to do more about the causes but when people are consistently subjected to ongoing barrages by people who feel they can act with impunity, we also need to look at the consequences. This is what this is about. Those consequences affect young people.

I mentioned the 13-year-old boy whose eye socket was damaged. I could have mentioned two other individuals who had the lard beaten out of them in one of the local parks. It happens throughout our constituency and there need to be consequences for that rather than allowing another 20 or 30 young people to be assaulted. They always pick on the vulnerable. It is the young person on their own or two or three years younger. It is the woman out with a buggy. It is someone from an ethnic minority who is new to Ireland and does not know the area that well and they throw out the racial tropes. They pick those they feel they can target. They also know that even those who are well able to defend themselves feel a sense of powerlessness. If someone came up to a grown man of 6 foot 5, that person knows they have to be very careful about what they do. These individuals play on that. They intimidate communities.

I am not talking about the high-level drug dealing and other high-level crime. I am talking about the apprentices, the ones who, if they are allowed continue and get away with it for long enough, will enter the criminal justice system. I am also talking about the hangers-on who could be influenced by a nudge. I am not saying my suggestions are gospel. I want to have a debate. I want to see if something makes sense and if something else does not make sense. It is about coming up with solutions because as it stands people in our communities feel nothing is being done to deal with it right now - 20 years' time is too far away. Six months' time or nine months' time for an ASBO is too far away. We need to have something more quickly and that includes issues like community courts and getting gardaí out of having to go to court in the first place and some short, sharp consequences.

Once again, I thank all my colleagues for their positive contributions.