Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 260: To ask the Minister for Justice and Law Reform the progress that has been made in respect of the review of anti-social behaviour orders; the measures in place to tackle anti-social behaviour; his plans to tackle anti-social behaviour; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41077/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Strong provisions are in place to combat anti-social behaviour. The Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 modernised the law in this regard. Because of concerns about the abuse of alcohol and its contribution to public order offending and broader social problems, further provisions were brought forward to deal with alcohol abuse and its effect on public order in the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2003. The Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 2003 also provides the Gardaí with powers to deal with late night street violence and anti-social conduct attributable to excessive drinking.

The Intoxicating Liquor Act 2008 gives further powers to the Gardaí to tackle misuse of alcohol. Gardaí have the power to seize alcohol to prevent underage drinking in public places and to forestall public disorder or damage to property. Gardaí may also issue fixed charge notices for the offences of intoxication in a public place and disorderly conduct in a public place. These notices are a more efficient and effective use of Garda resources and avoid court proceedings when an offender pays the penalty.

One of the policing priorities which I set for An Garda Síochána in 2010 was to achieve the maximum levels of safety for local communities. Following on from this, the Garda Síochána Policing Plan for 2010 includes as one of its key actions the reduction of public disorder, assaults and criminal damage by focusing on a range of measures. These include identifying and proactively targeting local 'hot spots', a faster response to reports of public disorder and antisocial behaviour, adopting a low tolerance stance to alcohol and drug related anti-social behaviour and youth crime, the introduction of a youth crime case management system. The Garda's Operation Encounter has been in operation since 2002 to target public disorder and anti-social behaviour, and it specifically targets offences contrary to the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 and the Intoxicating Liquor Act 1988. In the region of 615,000 offences have been detected since the commencement of the Operation. An Garda Síochána participate fully in the joint policing committees established in each local authority area, all of which attach importance to combating anti-social behaviour in their areas.

CCTV plays an important role in supporting the work of An Garda Síochána in deterring anti-social behaviour. Garda CCTV systems are deployed at a wide range of locations throughout the country on the basis of operational needs. In addition, my Department has provided financial assistance towards the capital costs of establishing community-based CCTV systems.

The Garda Adult Cautioning Scheme enables warnings to be issued to offenders in certain circumstances (specified by the Director of Public Prosecutions), instead of their being prosecuted. This reduces the volume of cases prosecuted through the courts by An Garda Síochána and allows less serious offenders, who are considered unlikely to re-offend, to have their cases dealt with expeditiously. It also forces offenders to confront the reality of the offences they have committed. Most of the offences covered by the Scheme are public order and anti-social behaviour offences and include offences under the Public Order Act 1994.

Tackling youth crime is a key priority for this Government. The Government's policy on youth crime is set out in detail in the National Youth Justice Strategy 2008 - 2010. This strategy is underpinned by the principles of the Children Act 2001, as amended. The approach adopted involves the deployment of Garda juvenile liaison officers, community Gardaí and the use of measures such as the Garda Diversion Programme, Garda youth diversion projects, young persons probation projects and community sanctions, in addition to the incremental process of warnings, good behaviour contracts and anti-social behaviour orders under the Criminal Justice Act 2006.

An Garda Síochána works very closely with local authorities in enforcing the provisions of housing legislation in respect of anti-social behaviour by persons provided with local authority housing and related matters.

Part 11 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 provides for civil proceedings in relation to anti-social behaviour by adults, and Part 13 of the Act relates to anti-social behaviour by children. These provisions set out an incremental procedure for addressing anti-social behaviour. For children, these range from a behaviour warning from a member of An Garda Síochána, to a good behaviour contract involving the child and his or her parents or guardian, to referral to the Garda Juvenile Diversion Programme and to the making of a behaviour order by the Children Court, and for adults they provide for a behaviour warning and a civil order.

The range of legislative, policy and operational measures which target anti-social behaviour, including those provided for in the Criminal Justice Act 2006, are under constant review by my Department, in consultation with other relevant Departments and the Garda authorities.

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 261: To ask the Minister for Justice and Law Reform his views in respect of recent proposals (details supplied) regarding the establishment of dedicated anti-social behaviour units; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41078/10]

Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Tackling youth crime, including antisocial behaviour, is a key priority for the Government. The Government's policy on youth crime is set out in detail in the National Youth Justice Strategy 2008-2010. This strategy is underpinned by the principles of the Children Act 2001. The approach adopted by the Government involves an incremental process of diversion from the formal criminal justice system, community sanctions as alternatives to custody and detention as a last resort. In the case of anti-social behaviour the diversion process includes the use of warnings, good behaviour contracts and anti-social behaviour orders, where appropriate.

This approach confronts youth crime and related behaviours in an incremental way. An Garda Síochána, especially Juvenile Liaison Officers and Community Gardaí, operate the Garda Diversion Programme. They have the support of 100 Garda Youth Diversion Projects across the country. These community based projects, which are funded by the Irish Youth Justice Service and delivered in collaboration with An Garda Síochána and voluntary youth organisations, have a clear role in intervening to challenge bad behaviour and to promote good behaviour. The projects have re-focused their approach to tackling the offending behaviour following the publication in 2009 of a study by the Irish Youth Justice Service on designing effective local responses to youth crime. This report is available on the IYJS website. The implementation of the reports findings are well advanced and are specifically designed to target behavioural change in the children attending the projects.

There are strong legal provisions in place to combat anti-social behaviour. They provide the Gardaí with powers to deal with late night street violence and anti-social conduct attributable to excessive drinking. Gardaí have the power to seize alcohol in the possession of an under 18 year old which they suspect is for consumption in a public place. They can also seize alcohol where they reasonably believe that there is the danger of public disorder or damage to property and require the person to leave the place. Gardaí may also issue fixed charge notices for the offences of intoxication in a public place and disorderly conduct in a public place. These notices are a more efficient and effective use of Garda resources and avoid court proceedings when an offender pays the penalty. An Garda Síochána works to reduce public disorder by identifying and proactively targeting local hot spots and responding quickly to reports of public disorder and anti-social behaviour.

A proposal for "dedicated antisocial behaviour units", referred to by the Deputy was mentioned in a recent newspaper article. The article appears to have overlooked the key role of An Garda Síochána in tackling anti-social behaviour which I have outlined above and it also appears to have misunderstood the role of Garda Youth Diversion Projects. I have no plans for the establishment of such units.