Vol. 178 No. 1
asked the Minister for Justice if, to combat lawlessness and crimes of violence in the city of Dublin, he will endeavour to arrange for the Army or An Forsa Cosanta Áitiúil to co-operate with the Garda Síochána in maintaining night patrols on city streets.
31.
asked the Minister for Justice if he is aware of recent incidents in Dublin city and county where children and young persons have been assaulted by gangs, sometimes armed with offensive weapons, as a result of which these children have been injured; if in view of the increase in the number of these incidents, he is satisfied that adequate numbers of Gardaí are on duty; and if he will consider providing increased Gardaí where required.
32.
asked the Minister for Justice if he is aware of a recent incident in the Highfield Park area, Dundrum, County Dublin, where children were beaten by a gang of youths, and of the serious apprehension existing in the district that further attacks of this nature may occur; and if he will ensure that adequate Gardaí are on duty to prevent such occurrences.
33.
asked the Minister for Justice if, in view of the number of incidents in which children or young persons have been assaulted by gangs of youths, he is satisfied that the penalties inflicted in the District Court at present are adequate to act as a deterrent; and, if not, if he will consider amending the law or taking such other action as may be necessary to prevent these occurrences.
With the permission of the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 30 to 33 together.
I am informed by the Commissioner, Garda Síochána, that there has been no increase in the number of assaults or woundings in Dublin in the last twelve months, and that any impression to the contrary must be due to the fact that certain recent cases, some involving attacks by more than one person, have received widespread newspaper publicity.
While there is, in the Questions, only one explicit reference to an identifiable case, it is evident that all four Questions have references to the recent widely-publicised cases to which I have referred and which are readily identifiable. One of these cases has been dealt with by the Court but four others, including the one which is explicity referred to, are sub judice and it would of course be improper for me to say anything which might appear to be a comment on them.
I may, however, draw attention to the fact that, with the exception of one case where the injured persons gave very little assistance to the Garda Síochána, criminal proceedings have been brought or are pending in the case of every assault of the kind in question committed in Dublin or the vicinity this year up to the beginning of the present month, and of those committed in the present month there is only one case in which an arrest has not so far been made and in that one case an arrest is expected in the near future. In one very recent case, widely publicised, the Garda Síochána are satisfied that the story of the assault was a fabrication.
In these circumstances, I think that it is clear that, as far as assaults are concerned, the Garda Síochána in Dublin have been most successful in dealing with offences in so far as the matter rests with them.
A few weeks ago I informed the House that the prevalence of crime generally in Dublin was causing me anxiety and that steps had been taken to strengthen the hands of the police in various ways, including an increase in over-all strength in the city and an increase in the strength of the detective units. I also mentioned then that plans are in hand to improve still further the efficiency of communications and patrols by the provision of additional equipment. Since then it has been decided to provide for the city an additional twelve motor cycles equipped with radio which will be operated on a 24-hour basis and be available to provide speedy attention in the event of assaults, etc., as well as to other crimes. The efficacy of these arrangements would be much increased by a more frequent use on the part of the public of the 999 call system.
Should these measures fail to bring about the improvement that I hope for, I shall consider what further steps can be taken.
