Seán Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)
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Question 27: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the action he intends to take to deal with vandalism and anti-social behaviour which is causing problems in many communities with families harassed and property vandalised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22146/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I share the concerns expressed about anti-social behaviour and its effects on people. In many such incidents, vulnerable people, often the elderly, are subjected to serious nuisance and forms of harassment which cause significant and persistent distress and interfere fundamentally with their capacity to enjoy quiet and peaceful lives. Often such people are simply too frightened to stand up to their persecutors. Equally, few of them have the financial resources to engage lawyers to seek private law injunction-type remedies to protect their rights to enjoyment of their property. To remedy this situation I intend to empower a senior officer of the Garda Síochána to apply to the District Court by way of civil procedure for an order which would prohibit a person from behaving in an anti-social manner. Similar to civil injunctions breaches of which are punishable as a criminal contempt, a breach of such an order will be a criminal offence. This type of order is not an entirely new concept. Such an order is simply a mechanism whereby the law seeks to stop a person from behaving in a way which is causing significant distress to a community or to some person in that community. In this respect the principle behind such anti-social behaviour orders is similar to the judicial power to bind over, which is a very old power indeed.

My proposals which I brought forward by way of Committee Stage amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill 2004 have recently been agreed by the Oireachtas Select Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights.

Furthermore, a comprehensive package on juvenile justice issues brought forward as Committee Stage amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill by my colleague Mr. Brian Lenihan, T.D. Minister of State with special responsibility for children has been agreed by that Committee.

I attach top priority to the enactment of this Bill and I hope to see it complete its passage through the Dáil and Seanad without any undue delay.

Strong provisions are in place to combat vandalism and anti-social 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 have 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. It does this by providing for the closure of premises such as pubs, off licenses, late night clubs and food premises where there is disorder or noise on or close to the premises, as well as the making of exclusion orders on individuals convicted of a range of public order offences, in addition to any penalty they might receive under the 1994 Public Order Act.

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.

In addition to the Juvenile Diversion Programme, there are also 64 Garda Youth Diversion Projects nationwide, with plans to increase this to 100 by the end of 2007. Garda Youth Diversion Projects are a crime prevention initiative, which adopt a multi-agency partnership approach to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour at community level.

The projects aim to bring about the conditions whereby the behavioural patterns of young people towards law and order can develop and mature through positive interventions and interaction with the project. The projects are particularly targeted at 10-18 year old "at risk" youths in communities where a specific need has been identified.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that An Garda Síochána has a pro-active approach to policing anti-social/public disorder issues by immediate intervention, arrest and prosecutions or advice, as appropriate. Garda management make every effort to provide a high visible police presence on the streets of our towns and villages through the deployment of uniform, detective units, divisional traffic corps, community policing units and mountain bike units as appropriate.