Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I raise the ongoing crisis facing residents in Glovers Court, a Dublin City Council flat complex off York Street, and O'Carroll Villas. Drug dealers run these flat complexes. Glovers Court is like a 24-hour drug shop, with dealers using Kinder eggs to hide their drugs in the playground at O'Carroll Villas.Gangs of young people are egging those using the local shops and businesses. The pace of the regeneration of Glovers Court is glacial, just like it is for almost all Dublin City Council flat complexes. Since there are so many empty flats, the drug dealing in Glovers Court is being made really easy. Drugs are being sold there 24-7. There are a lot of boarded-up flats because of the regeneration process. It means there are more drug dealers in Glovers Court than there are residents. At 10 o'clock last night, there were ten people queueing up to get drugs in Glovers Court. At 4.45 a.m., there were four people queueing to get drugs there.

This is the Minister for Justice's back garden. It is his constituency. The drug dealers are running the show in Glovers Court and O'Carroll Villas. The Minister was talking about introducing laws. He can have all the laws he wants in the world but if the Garda numbers are not there on the streets to enforce them, those laws are useless.

The residents have put up with this for years. It is completely unacceptable. None of us would accept it and there is no reasons residents in the inner city flat complexes should have to put up with it either.

The gardaí who are there are excellent, it is fair to acknowledge. The community gardaí are excellent. They do really good work, engage with residents and are professional, but their arms are tied. There are not have enough gardaí there. The superintendent in Pearse Street is an excellent professional, organised and very engaged with the local community, but the superintendent does not have the resources. The Government is not allocating the required resources, and Dublin City Council is found wanting on so many occasions in terms of the planning and maintenance of the flats and communication with residents. I ask that the Minister come in here and explain what he is going to do about the drug dealing in his own back yard.