James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators for the opportunity today to respond to this important motion. I am here on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Deputy Harris, who unfortunately cannot be present.

Before I address the motion before the House, I condemn the assault on a member of An Garda Síochána over the weekend. I wish him a speedy recovery. A person has been charged, and in those circumstances I cannot comment any further on that particular incident. An attack on a member of An Garda Síochána carrying out his or her duties is not only an attack on the victim; it is an attack on his or her family, colleagues, and the community. Anyone who would carry out such an attack deserves to be condemned. The local community was shocked and appalled at this incident, as we all are.

I will now turn to the motion. The Minister and I are very clear that criminality and antisocial behaviour have no place in our society or on our transport systems. Everyone has a right to commute in peace, comfort, and safety. Public transport workers provide a vital service for some of the most vulnerable in society in all weathers and, at all times, deserve to work in an environment that is safe. The Government is clear in its commitment to community safety. Everyone deserves to be safe and to feel safe, including if they are using a bus to travel to the shops, the train to commute to work or the Luas to enjoy an evening socialising in the capital. That principle is central to my Department’s mission of a safe, fair and inclusive Ireland. It is also central to our community safety policy, and the provisions of new legislation such as the policing, security and community safety Bill. Any form of violence or criminality on public transport is unacceptable. Such incidents not only injure the victims but communities as a whole. The safety and security of both the public transport passengers and staff are of paramount importance. Arrangements to deal with criminality and antisocial behaviour are important matters that, first and foremost, must be managed by every public transport company in conjunction with An Garda Síochána, where appropriate.

As Senators will all be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005, as amended, the Commissioner is independent and responsible for the management and administration of Garda business. This includes all operational policing matters, together with the establishment of Garda units. The Minister has been advised that the Garda Commissioner does not intend to establish a dedicated transport police unit at this time, as he is of the view that the policing needs of public transport are being met on a daily basis through community policing. The Government is, however, committed to ensuring that An Garda Síochána has the resources it needs, as demonstrated by the unprecedented allocation of more than €2.14 billion in the budget for 2023.

I will briefly outline some of the actions undertaken by An Garda Síochána, both generally and in particular in the Tallaght area. I am informed that the assistant commissioner for the Dublin metropolitan region met with the CEO of Dublin Bus and senior management. She provided reassurance that An Garda Síochána will continue to provide a proactive response in support of Dublin Bus staff and other transport workers and operators in the west Tallaght area. This is part of the ongoing extensive engagement between Garda management and transport operators, including the NTA, Irish Rail and Transdev Ireland, operators of the Luas, to provide a high visibility presence through a co-ordinated approach.

My Department is further informed that there is ongoing communication between An Garda Síochána and the respective public transport control centres. Access to good quality CCTV can provide assistance to gardaí when investigating serious incidents. It is my understanding that the entire Dublin Bus fleet is fully fitted with CCTV cameras, with up to 11 internal cameras and three external cameras fitted on the fleet of more modern vehicles.

Since October 2022, additional Garda patrols have been undertaken in the west Tallaght area in particular as part of Operation Saul. The operation is implemented across the Dublin region, with the aim of keeping people safe on public transport services. The operation’s objective is to further support, enhance and strengthen the strategic and operational objectives of Operation Citizen, the Garda operation to reassure people that Dublin city centre is a safe place to live, work and visit.

Operation Saul aims to provide a safe environment for commuters using public transport services in the city. An Garda Síochána has put in place a range of regional and local operations to prevent, pre-empt and detect instances of criminality and antisocial behaviour. For example, Operation Twin Tracks, a community engagement and rail safety policing initiative was conducted by the Garda in partnership with other public transport providers last year. The purpose of the operation was to provide high-visibility policing of rail and light rail transport within the Dublin metropolitan region, and the rail networks in train stations nationwide. Two days of action were held on 3 June and 29 July last year, involving high-visibility patrolling operations between 3 p.m. and 11 p.m. on each day within the Dublin region at Connolly and Heuston stations and nationwide on eight intercity routes. Local crime prevention officers and community policing gardaí were available to deliver crime prevention advice and community engagement crime prevention stands at a number of stations between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. on each of these days. Garda management has advised that further days of action will be held under Operation Twin Tracks in 2023, although these dates are yet to be confirmed.

The Department of Transport has informed my Department that a range of actions is also undertaken with the NTA and the individual transport operators. The authority regularly engages with public transport operators on antisocial behaviour. It has established a working group on antisocial behaviour that meets monthly to discuss any developing trends among public transport operators and shares best practice.With regard to Dublin Bus specifically, as I mentioned, each vehicle is equipped with CCTV and a radio, which facilitates immediate contact with its control centre. In cases of serious incidents on board a bus, central control co-ordinates with emergency services such as An Garda Síochána and ambulance services, as required. All Dublin Bus employees are fully trained on the procedures for dealing with specific challenging situations, including antisocial behaviour. Mobile inspectors in the city centre are also available to attend instances, as required.

Dublin Bus has a strong and close working relationship with An Garda Síochána and has set up a number of community forums in different areas across the city. The company is also a member of the NTA's national working group, which I have mentioned. In addition to this, Dublin Bus also operated a school education programme that involved educating young people about the importance of the bus in their lives and in their local community. The work of their school and community co-ordinators has also proved highly successful in encouraging young people to respect bus services and has assisted greatly in the reduction of instances of antisocial behaviour.

Improving community safety requires all sectors to work together with strong agency collaboration across State agencies and engagement from the community. The most effective way we can improve community safety over the longer term is through the empowerment of local communities combined with support from the State. This is the focus of the community safety policy; to use evidence-based approaches to tackle the root causes and these issues and address them locally.

My Department is working on a multi-agency approach to the underlying causes of crime to tack tangible action to tackle criminal and antisocial behaviour. In addition to introducing local community safety partnerships, for example, pilots for which are currently running in Dublin's north inner city and counties Longford and Waterford, we are giving An Garda Síochána additional tools and technology to fight crime in a digital era by introducing legislation to provide by body-worn cameras, improved community CCTV schemes and with expanded use of automatic number plate recognition, ANPR.

We are providing a range of community sanctions to be used to address criminality, reduce reoffending and provide protection to the public. We are introducing legislation to criminalise the grooming of children to commit criminal offences for which the Minister secured Cabinet approval on 18 January. We will continue to roll out the community intervention programme, Greentown, which seeks to break the link between children who are engaged or at the risk of engaging with criminal gangs in parallel with this new legislation. Separately, the Minister for Transport is providing the gardaí with new powers to seize and stop the illegal use of scramblers.

It is also important to note that generally, Ireland is a safe country. Our crime rates are comparatively low, although there is, of course, always room to improve. The factors underlying the instances of crime are the subject of ongoing academic and expert research. My Department engages with the research community to monitor trends and emerging evidence.

I can assure the house that crime trends are analysed on a monthly basis by An Garda Síochána at divisional meetings. If trends are recognised, resources are dedicated to combat the identified issues. When specific crime trends or patterns are identified, local Garda management considers additional measures outside of normal policing responses including locations of specific patrols, intelligence-led operations and search and arrest to combat known individuals involved in such crimes. Diverting people from criminality by affording opportunity is key. Locally-targeted, evidence-based interventions are the most effective tools for improving community safety. The Minister, Deputy Harris, and I aim to further progress my Department's commitment to working with public sector colleagues, NGOs and wider society to deliver safer communities for everyone. I aim to continue this focus through justice plan 2023, which will be published shortly, and the ongoing implementation of the new justice strategy. As Minister of State, I see every day the hard work undertaken by our gardaí, the voluntary sector, community groups and dedicated civil and public servants towards that goal. We all want safe communities for people to enjoy. We all want safe, comfortable public transport available at all times to service our communities. By working in collaboration with the community, the Minister is confident that we can deliver on these goals.