Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 11 Mar 1992

Vol. 417 No. 2

Adjournment Debate. - Moyross (Limerick) Vandalism.

Mr. Kemmy

Thank you, Sir, for affording me the opportunity of raising this matter in the House. I am also grateful to the Minister for taking time to come to deal with this matter.

I do not raise this matter lightly. As well as being a Member of this House, I am also Mayor of Limerick and it was after some soul-searching that I as first citizen of the city, decided to raise this matter on the floor of Dáil Éireann. It is a measure of my frustration as first citizen that I have been forced to raise the matter in this drastic way.

This matter has been on my conscience since I became Mayor of Limerick eight months ago. As a person who is concerned about housing working people in my native city I felt bad that I was unable to relet houses in Glenagross Park, Moyross. This weighed heavily on me and I regard it as an indictment of myself, my fellow councillors and my city that we have not been able to tackle this matter.

Moyross is the largest housing estate in Limerick and is situated on the north side of the city. There are more than 1,200 houses in the estate. There are 294 houses in the Glenagross Park section of which 70 are boarded up. These houses were built approximately 15 years ago and they would cost between £35,000 to £40,000 each on the open market. This is an area of very high unemployment with about 80 per cent being unemployed and the percentage is even higher among early school leavers. Glue sniffing is rampant. The young boys who sniff glue have low self-esteem and little self-confidence. They also drink wine and cider in the area.

Approximately 70 houses have been vandalised in the area. Some have been burned out and it is like a sight from Beirut. The estate is situated in a lovely part of Limerick, in the shadow of the Clare hills, a very salubrious area bordering County Clare.

More than 100 families have been intimidated into leaving their houses. A small group of young people who are usually high from glue-sniffing and the effects of intoxicating drink call on the occupied houses at 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning. People have been forced to leave, especially women on their own with young children. In their efforts to stabilise the area, Limerick Corporation have decided that those who leave that estate will not be rehoused by the corporation and are put on the housing list. There are now more than 500 applicants on the housing list yet, more than 100 houses, including the 70 in Glenagross Park, are boarded up because they were vandalised. This is a dreadful situation.

The estate has been the subject of a number of press articles and television programmes. The former Minister for Justice, Deputy Burke, came to see me after one such television programme. The Minister was shocked by what he saw on television and asked for my advice on the matter. I told him that it would be necessary to have a Garda presence on a 24 hour basis in the estate to discourage the young vandals and guarantee people that they could live in those houses free from intimidation and with security of tenure.

The city council and the corporation support me fully. The previous Minister said he would visit on two occasions to see the situation for himself and I now extend the same invitation to the Minister and I undertake to escort him. I appeal to the Minister to use his good offices and influence with the Garda Síochána, who say they have not the resources, to give us 24 hour protection in that estate so that we can relet the houses.

There has been a dreadful rat infestation in the area, it is the worst I have ever seen. It has to be seen to be believed. The rats have congregated in the boarded up houses and this is causing great distress to the families in the area. I would greatly appreciate if the Minister helped us resolve this problem.

Minister for Justice (Mr. Flynn)

The policing situation in Limerick as a whole and the Glenagross area in particular, is receiving continuous and special attention by my Department, the Garda authorities and the Probation and Welfare Service.

Meetings have been held in Limerick, about the Glenagross Park situation attended by senior Garda, Department of Justice and probation service officials in recent months. Further such meetings have been arranged in the coming weeks. Consultations have taken place with the city manager and local community interests in Moyross and initiatives are being taken in this matter by all concerned. These include, on my side of things, the following: the assignment of seven extra civilian staff since Christmas to Garda stations in Limerick to increase Garda presence on the streets — in fact the gardaí have a total of 19 full-time and one part-time clerical support employees in Limerick city and all vacancies in this category in Limerick have now been filled; the assignment of student gardaí to Limerick for street level experience purposes; the extra transport provision for Mayorstone station to improve the effectiveness of the neighbourhood gardaí working in Glenagross Park; the negotiations with the management of the community centre being provided in Moyross with a view to establishing a Garda clinic on the premises; and an ongoing review of probation service staffing in the Limerick area.

The Southill area of Limerick has an Outreach programme in place since October 1990 where three Outreach workers are employed by a local committee funded by my Department. These people operate day and night at street level, counselling young persons in the "high risk" category in this area. Consideration is being given to a further community initiative of similar character in the Moyross area but it is far too soon to say what approach will be adopted in this regard as wide consultations will be required before such a step is taken.

The Probation and Welfare Service is represented at full strength in Limerick. It includes two senior probation officers and eight probation officers. These professional staff are backed up by a clerical officer and two clerical assistants. This service is under review from the staff point of view. It has done tremendous work in recent years in the management reform and resocialisation of young offenders in the community in Limerick.

Limerick is one of the most heavily policed urban areas in this State if not in Western Europe. It has 324 gardaí serving a population of 75,000 which represents 231 people for every Garda officer in the area. This contrasts very well with the policing ratios in other parts of the country, including the Dublin metropolitan area. For instance, the Tallaght Garda district has 107 members of the force and 62,000 population which is one garda for every 619 people. Cork East Garda district has one garda for every 310 people. The national average is one garda for every 335 people which is one of the highest police-population ratios in Western Europe.

Referring specifically to the policing and crime issues of the Moyross area and Glenagross Park in particular, I have the following points to make: 59 houses and not 70, as the Deputy said are boarded up in Glenagross Park.

Mr. Kemmy

That is right.

Mr. Flynn

Eight criminals believed to be responsible for most of the vandalism in the area have been jailed recently. Mayorstone Garda station, which serves the Moyross area has four sergeants and 21 gardaí attached to it. The fourth sergeant was added to the station last week. Four student gardaí are now working with the station party at Mayorstone since 2 March and it is intended to introduce shortly a three-relief system of policing in Mayorstone sub-district which will greatly enhance the effective policing of the whole area.

I am far from claiming that the situation in Moyross and Glenagross Park is acceptable. I do want to put on the record that my Department and their agencies have been active in taking steps to address the situation. The Interdepartmental Committee on Urban Crime Problems are looking hard at areas such as Glenagross Park. While the committee have concentrated their initial investigations in the Ronanstown area of Dublin, on which I expect to receive a report shortly, I can confirm that the Limerick and Cork areas will be next in line for their attention. I intend to take up the Deputy's invitation next time I am in Limerick and I will talk with the Deputy about it.