As I have rarely attempted to raise issues in my constituency through the device of the Adjournment Debate, it can be taken that I view this matter extremely seriously. I thank the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform for coming to the House to listen to my concerns.
Finglas is a very large urban population centre of the same size as Limerick or Waterford. It has a large population of vulnerable elderly people, many of whom live alone. Huge improvements to the social and economic infrastructure in recent years have taken place and unemployment is quite low. The work of the Finglas-Cabra Partnership and the Finglas-Cabra drugs task force have done much to provide training and employment for many of the long-term unemployed. The FAN and youth diversion projects, under the aegis of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, are doing much excellent work with young people at risk in the area. There are more people on vocational training opportunity schemes and other return to education programmes than anywhere else in the country. Home ownership is at about 80% and participation in further and higher education has increased, although it is still well below the levels of areas which are better off. The Dublin City Council has invested heavily in the Finglas-South regeneration programme and €25 million is being spent on a swimming pool, youth centre, child care centre, civic office and all-weather pitches, a project which is ahead of schedule and well within budget. It is projected that 5,000 additional housing units will be built over the next five years in the area.
However, problems still remain. There are unacceptable levels of antisocial behaviour, breaches of public order legislation, intimidation and recently, an increase in drug-related gangland activity. This is very similar to what went on in the late 1970s and 1980s, although it is much more violent now. The latest upsurge in violence is disappointing to the vast majority of good-living, law-abiding people in Finglas. They are appalled by the number of violent deaths, attacks and intimidating behaviour in recent months, acts perpetrated by a small group of people who see their group as a law unto itself and who will stop at nothing to ensure it remains that way.
As I said earlier today, there are no "no-go" areas in Finglas and there cannot be. Yes, people are frightened but I compliment those like Fr. Seamus Ahearne, the Rivermount parish priest, for standing up and exhorting people to co-operate with the gardaí. The people of Finglas must be supported in these very difficult times. They cannot be left at the mercy of gangland thugs and I appeal to anyone with any information to pass it on to the gardaí or to someone they trust. I appeal to the small number of people who have been patently obstructive to Garda inquiries to stop doing so.
I thank the Garda authorities for putting Operation Crossover in place and for vigorous and robust policing in recent times. I hope this strategy will lead to the apprehension, prosecution and conviction of these thugs, who are a menace in the area. I wish the gardaí well in their investigations and I sympathise with the families of the innocent victims of recent attacks and with gardaí who have been injured in the line of duty.
I know this period will pass but it should never have come to this. Policing in any area is ineffective if it is not consistent. Stop-start, trial and error methods simply do not and will not work. There are horses for courses and not every garda is ideally suited to serve in every area of the country. The Garda authorities must consistently engage with the community in Finglas, not just when trouble starts. I urge the gardaí to be proactive and to work with community leaders in developing a policing plan for the area, a plan which is custom-made and not handed down from on high.
Finglas Garda station was built at a time in the last century when there were crossroads dances and a maypole festival in Finglas. It is almost the same building now as when it was built 70 or so years ago and it is not customer-friendly; it must be a depressing building in which to work, lacking basic sanitation facilities for staff or prisoners. It must be difficult for gardaí to feel enthusiastic about their work when their surroundings are so depressing. All the current investigations are based in the Blanchardstown Garda station, as there are no facilities in the Finglas Garda station for such conferences. The gardaí and the community in Finglas deserve better than that. In the new plan for the regeneration of Finglas, an opportunity exists to build a 21st century station and the sale of the existing building would go a long way towards funding the cost of a new station.
CCTV was originally announced for Finglas in 1994. If the commissioning of the system for Finglas village could be expedited, this would be another weapon in the armoury of the gardaí in their fight against crime. I ask the Minister to engage with the Finglas community, the Garda Commissioner and his colleagues in this House to make sufficient resources and manpower available to ensure the current crime wave is defeated and that a long-term proactive policing plan is put in place for this rapidly expanding part of Dublin.
