Cecilia Keaveney (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 1064: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his plans to deal in an interdepartmental manner with the issue of anti-social behaviour that is manifesting itself in many towns and villages; if he will make a statement on the matter in view of its social implications. [2361/06]

Cecilia Keaveney (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 1065: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his plans to deal in an interdepartmental manner with the issue of anti-social behaviour that is manifesting itself in many towns and villages and having implications in the accident and emergency services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2362/06]

Cecilia Keaveney (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 1066: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his plans to deal in an interdepartmental manner with the issue of anti-social behaviour that is manifesting itself in many towns and villages and having implications for the way in which tourists view these locations; if he will make a statement on the matter considering the substantial capital moneys that have been made available through the lottery scheme. [2365/06]

Cecilia Keaveney (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 1201: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his plans to deal in an interdepartmental manner with the issue of anti-social behaviour that is manifesting itself in many towns and villages; if he could make a statement on the matter both from the perspective of the residents of these towns and from the interventions that can take place with people involved in the disturbances. [2372/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 1064 to 1066, inclusive, and 1201 together.

Strong provisions are already in place to combat anti-social and unlawful behaviour. The primary basis for the law regarding public order offences is the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994, which modernised the law in this regard. Furthermore, because of my concerns about the abuse of alcohol and its contribution to public order offending and broader social problems, I brought forward tough new provisions to deal with alcohol abuse and its effect on public order in the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2003. One of the provisions of the Act is to broaden the application of the temporary closure order penalty, which was originally introduced to combat under-age drinking, to cover also convictions for a series of offences, such as a licensee supplying intoxicating liquor to drunken persons and permitting disorderly conduct on the licensed premises.

The Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 2003 has also been enacted, the main purpose of which is to provide the Garda Síochána with additional powers to deal with late night street violence and anti-social conduct attributable to excessive drinking. I have recently published the general scheme of the Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2005. The main purpose of the proposed Bill is to streamline and modernise our liquor licensing laws. It will also contain provisions which will combat anti-social behaviour.

I recently published my legislative proposals to deal with anti-social behaviour, including provision for anti-social behaviour orders. I propose to introduce these proposals by way of Committee Stage amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill 2004, which is currently before the House. In so far as anti-social behaviour orders for children are concerned, my colleague, Deputy Brian Lenihan, Minister of State with special responsibility for children, has obtained Government approval for separate provisions relating to children to be brought forward as Committee Stage amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill 2004, as part of a package of measures concerning juvenile justice issues.

In formulating the proposals my Department has, where the need arose, consulted with relevant Departments. In this regard, discussions have taken place with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government regarding housing legislation in so far as anti-social behaviour is concerned.

I take great satisfaction in the Government's decision of October 2004 to approve the recruitment of 2,000 additional gardaí to increase the strength of the force to 14,000. As a result there will be a combined organisational strength, of both attested gardaí and recruits in training, of 14,000 in 2006. I have already promised that the additional gardaí will not be put on administrative duties but will be put directly into front line, operational, high visibility policing.

The Garda Síochána is now better resourced than at any time in its history. The Garda funding which I secured in the Estimates for 2006 is at an historic high of over €1.29 billion, and compares to just €600 million in 1997. The provision for Garda overtime in 2006 will be €83.5 million, an increase of €23 million on the allocation for 2005. This will greatly aid the planned deployment of a visible policing service in a flexible, effective and targeted response to criminal activity and to crime prevention. The €83.5 million in overtime will yield 2.725 million extra hours of policing by uniformed and by special units throughout the State.

I attach great importance to the development of a real partnership between the Garda Síochána and local authorities on matters affecting policing. My intention and that of the Oireachtas, as set out in the Garda Síochána Act 2005, is that joint policing committees and local policing fora established under them will provide arenas where the Garda Síochána and local authorities can co-operate and work together to address local policing and other issues.

I will shortly issue guidelines for the establishment and operation of the committees after consulting my colleagues, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. My view is that the best way forward is to establish a small number of joint policing committees on a pilot basis. Setting up a small number of pilot committees will give an opportunity to identify any teething problems that may arise when they are operating in practice. Any problems can then be addressed before the joint policing committees are rolled out to the remaining local authorities. I hope to be in a position to make a further announcement in this area in the near future.

Last month I approved grant funding to 13 applications under the community based CCTV scheme. This initiative will allow communities to press ahead with their own local CCTV system. This scheme provides an ideal opportunity for communities to work with local gardaí and their local authority with a view to improving the safety and well being of their area. CCTV has proved extremely successful in the prevention and detection of crime and is part of a series of measures aimed at tackling street assaults and public disorder.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that they take a proactive approach to policing anti-social and public disorder issues by immediate intervention, arrest and prosecution or advice, as appropriate. Under the juvenile diversion programme, divisional juvenile liaison officers regularly visit schools, youth clubs and social services and give presentations under the education programme and highlight alternative options for regular offenders. Community gardaí and the Garda schools liaison officers also visit schools and address young people on a variety of topics, including anti-social behaviour.

The concept of restorative justice provides for the bringing together of offenders and victims, which can also help to highlight the impact of anti-social behaviour, and other criminal behaviour, on victims and other members of the community. Members of the Garda Síochána are frequently in contact with other Government and non-governmental agencies, particularly the local authorities, to develop a multi-agency approach to addressing anti-social behaviour and public disorder and other issues by introducing by-laws regarding drinking in public places. These efforts will continue.

There are currently 64 Garda youth diversion projects established nationwide. Garda youth diversion projects are a community based, multi-agency crime prevention initiative which seek to divert young persons from becoming involved — or further involved — in anti-social and/or criminal behaviour by providing suitable activities to facilitate personal development, promote civic responsibility and improve long-term employability prospects. By doing so, the projects also contribute to improving the quality of life within communities and enhancing Garda/community relations. I am committed to the continuing development and, as resources permit, the expansion of Garda youth diversion projects. I have secured a budget of €6.6 million for the projects and local drugs task force projects in 2006, which represents an increase of €1.2 million for youth diversion.

I intend to ensure that 100 schemes will be established nationwide before the end of 2007. I have asked the Garda Commissioner to bring forward proposals for further community based initiatives in this area in light of the additional funding.

A sub-group of the RAPID programme national monitoring committee was set up in the latter part of last year tasked with examining mechanisms to improve departmental/agency support and assisting RAPID areas in their response to tackling anti-social behaviour. This sub-group, which has commenced its work, comprises my Department, the Departments of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Health and Children, Education and Science, Social and Family Affairs, the Garda Síochána, Pobal and FÁS.

With regard to the implications of anti-social behaviour for accident and emergency services, my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, informs me that a recently published report on alcohol and injuries in accident and emergency departments has indicated that a significant number of patients who attended had an injury related to the consumption of alcohol.

In so far as anti-social behaviour has a social impact, my colleague, the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, informs me that under the current NAP/inclusion process, people experiencing urban poverty and rural disadvantage are identified as vulnerable groups, and targets have been set to tackle social exclusion in urban and rural areas marked by disadvantage. The objective is to create viable and sustainable communities with access to employment, adequate income and services. Key targets in this area include fostering public safety and crime prevention, ensuring the basic needs of all families are met through enhanced and better co-ordinated State support services, improving access to employment, health, education and housing for rural dwellers and improved transport services to rural dwellers. Progress on these targets is ongoing.

Consultation for the 2006 to 2008 NAP-inclusion process was undertaken by the office for social inclusion at the end of 2005. Under the process, 78 written submissions were received and over 500 people participated in a number of regional seminars. The issue of anti-social behaviour was discussed during the consultation process, with participants agreeing that this issue affected both urban and rural areas. The input from the consultation process will inform future policy development as it will feed into the next NAP/inclusion process.

In so far as anti-social behaviour impacts tourism, my colleague, the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, informs me that his Department is not aware of any survey suggesting recent changes in tourists' perceptions of Irish towns and villages. It is understood that Fáilte Ireland's visitor attitudes surveys consistently show that Ireland continues to deliver holidays that match, and in many cases exceed, the expectation of overseas holidaymakers, and that four in every five holidaymakers are very satisfied with the sense of safety and security in Ireland.