Dublin City Safety Initiatives and Other Services: Statements

Minister for Justice (Deputy Helen McEntee)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this important debate. Community safety is about people being safe, and just as importantly, feeling safe. We want visitors to Dublin to be able to enjoy our vibrant, historic capital city. We want the people who live in it to experience it as a friendly, safe place to bring up their families and go about their lives. We want those who work in the city to have peace of mind that Dublin is a safe, welcoming place to do business. I think we all agree with those statements. To achieve this, it is vital that we have a shared approach.

As Minister for Justice, I am acutely aware of the effect that crime and antisocial behaviour can have on the quality of life for all communities. As an individual, I am well aware of the impact that crime has on individuals. An Garda Síochána will always be there to respond to local concerns and high-visibility policing is key to ensuring everyone in our capital city feels safe and is safe. While policing is of course central to public safety, there are many other factors which contribute to people feeling safe as they live, work and visit Dublin. Building stronger, safer communities is a collective responsibility across all of Government, our local authorities and State agencies. On a practical level, it means having adequate public lighting and infrastructure and ensuring simple things, such as rubbish being collected regularly from our main thoroughfares. It means examining whether emergency services are appropriately located. I am aware that Dublin City Council is undertaking an audit of emergency services in the city centre, which is welcome. This collaborative approach is further reflected today by the participation of my Government colleagues from other Departments, including the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Health.

Our community safety policy focuses Government services on prevention and early interventions. To be clear, we will always support communities and people who want and deserve to be safe on their streets. Communities which need our help will get it. People who deserve to be punished will be punished. The most effective way we can improve community safety over the longer term is through the empowerment of local communities, combined with support from the State. However, as Minister for Justice, I will always focus on resources and support An Garda Síochána to ensure we have a policing response in which people in Dublin have confidence. Along with the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, I regularly discuss and engage with the Garda Commissioner and his team on issues of safety, not just in Dublin but across the country. I have spoken with Angela Willis, assistant commissioner for the Dublin metropolitan region, about this issue in recent weeks.

I have visited our front-line Garda stations such as Pearse Street and Store Street to hear the first-hand perspectives of gardaí there on their work and to thank them, because our gardaí do fantastic work, although they might not always get credit for it. I have also listened to and spoken to business owners and residents in Dublin city.

A number of ongoing enforcement operations are in place that are aimed at tackling anti-social behaviour. As the House will be aware, Garda Operation Citizen commenced on 22 October 2021. Operation Citizen aims to reassure the public that Dublin is a safe place to live and work through high-visibility patrolling and community engagement. Operation Citizen achieves these aims through increased patrols of the city centre, including 100 Garda members patrolling each weekend evening. These increased patrols are supported by members from the Garda public order unit and other specialist units, specifically assigned to the city centre. There are also Garda members assigned specifically to patrol the River Liffey boardwalks and their environs at night.

Operation Citizen is not an isolated response. It works in tandem with a number of different operations currently ongoing in the city centre. These include Operation Saul, which aims to provide a safer environment for commuters who are travelling in the Dublin metropolitan region, and Operation Spire, which is part of an ongoing strategy by gardaí in Store Street aimed at targeting anti-social behaviour and drug dealing on O'Connell Street. To support Operation Citizen further, a property located at 13A Upper O'Connell Street is currently being redeveloped as a Garda station to enhance the high-visibility policing service in Dublin city centre. The new station will have a public office for members of the public to seek support and report crimes and to provide support to victims of crime when they come in.

It will serve as a hub which on-duty gardaí can report to directly without the need to return to their designated station, as well as being the parade location for Operation Citizen. It will be where members meet, go through what they will do for the day, and the place from which they go about the operation. This new station will increase the visible presence of An Garda Síochána on O'Connell Street and enhance the ability of the gardaí to respond efficiently to criminal activity. In advance of the completion of refurbishment works for the new station, a high-visibility Garda command vehicle has been placed on O'Connell Street and has been manned. Additionally, members assigned to Operation Citizen are proactively engaging with as many businesses operating in the city as possible each week.

I believe the efforts of An Garda Síochána, supported by my Department, are having an effect. Since Operation Citizen started last year, more than 7,000 arrests have been made and over €6 million worth of suspected illegal drugs have been seized. I am pleased to note that in October 2022, Dublin city centre was awarded purple flag status. This award, which is an international accreditation, recognises Dublin's excellence in its management of the night-time economy. Dublin is one of 40 cities in Europe that have attained the purple flag status. Among the criteria considered in granting this award are crime rates and the willingness of people to go into the city centre after dark. It is a positive reflection on our city overall.

Protecting our communities and reducing anti-social behaviour is, as I have said, a priority for me and all of Government, so it requires a whole-of-Government response. A key part of this is the ongoing support of the Government for An Garda Síochána, including an unprecedented budget of €2.14 billion, which was allocated this year. This level of funding will support recruitment of up to 1,000 new Garda members and an additional 400 Garda staff in 2023. Coupled with further reassignments of gardaí to operational front-line policing and the continued roll-out of the new operational model, with its focus on community engagement, I am confident that An Garda Síochána will continue to protect communities, combat anti-social behaviour and help to ensure that Dublin's city centre remains a safe place for all.

The most effective way that we can improve community safety over the longer term, as I mentioned, is through the empowerment of local communities, combined with support from the State. This is where community safety partnerships come into play. Our new local community safety partnerships will form a core part of how we implement this collective responsibility to make our communities safer for all.

They provide a forum for State agencies and local community representatives to work together to act on community concerns. Membership of the partnerships will be broader than that of the existing joint policing committees and will include residents, community representatives, business and education sector representation, relevant public services including the HSE, Tusla, An Garda Síochána and local authorities, as well as members of the local council. Three pilot local community safety partnerships have been established, as well as the Drogheda implementation board that followed on from the north inner city task force. We have independent chairs and full-time co-ordinators appointed to each of the pilots, including in Dublin's north inner city. Each partnership is in its first year of operation and is currently undertaking engagement work with the local communities in its area. In Longford the partnership's plan is already published and in the inner city and Waterford, the partnerships are moving in that direction. They have started much of the work and put a lot of plans in place.

The safety needs of every community are different and those who understand those needs best are the community themselves. This morning I was just outside Dundalk, where all the community safety partnerships, combined with those already in operation in the North, as well as the Drogheda implementation board, came together for the first time to share their knowledge and experience. It is clear the model we are putting in place and the one already in place in the North is working. It is very effective and brings communities together, while addressing the fact each community is different and requires a different response. That it is supported by Government is an important part of that.

Another key support from my Department that will support these partnerships is the community safety innovation fund, CSIF. Launched in April, the fund redirects money that is the proceeds of crime, having been seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau and others. This was called for for some time. My colleagues, Deputies Richmond and O'Dowd, along with many of our local councillors and a former chief superintendent in Louth, Christy Mangan, have consistently called for money that has been taken from criminals to go directly back into communities so we can show there is a direct link between the seizure of proceeds of crime and improving community safety outcomes.

Last month, I announced the allocation of funding for 22 projects under the CSIF. The interest in the fund was even better than we could have anticipated. We received 124 applications from groups in our communities that want to make a real difference and are working on new and innovative ways to protect and improve their local areas. Based on the high quality of proposals received, I believe the successful projects have the potential to have a real impact on their respective communities. Where these projects work, I want them to be replicated in other communities across the country. I encourage those who did not receive funding this year to apply again. The budget has gone from €2 million to €3 million for next year and I intend for that funding to continue to increase. I am especially pleased to note six innovation projects in the Dublin region received funding this year, including the community safety wardens project around Wolfe Tone Square in Dublin's north inner city, and a number of projects focusing on improving outcomes for young people. In addition, a proposal to extend the community safety wardens proposal to cover O'Connell Street and surrounding areas is currently being finalised and this will be expanded.

Youth justice is about ensuring we can support and work with our young people and trying to put resources in place before things get to an even more difficult situation where prison is often the only resort. Improving outcomes for our young people and diverting those most at risk away from crime must be a key response to antisocial behaviour in Dublin and across the country. An additional allocation of €6.7 million was provided in budget 2022 and another €2.5 million in 2023 to ensure the delivery of key objectives in the Youth Justice Strategy 2021-2027, in particular the expansion and deepening of the services offered to young people by the youth diversion projects, which are fully funded by my Department. These projects provide an invaluable support to complement the work of An Garda Síochána in addressing youth crime and also protecting local communities.

I commend the outstanding work of An Garda Síochána in supporting our young people by working with the youth diversion projects, as well as all the teams in those projects across the country. In one example of this, An Garda Síochána, in association with the FAI and local authorities, runs the late night soccer league programme in the Dublin metropolitan region. It is a diversionary programme incorporating soccer leagues at various locations across Dublin and is aimed at encouraging at-risk young people to participate in meaningful activities, thereby reducing antisocial behaviour involving young people in disadvantaged areas. It also gives young people something to do, which is so often why people turn to crime. The initiative is based around the concept of using football as a tool for social inclusion and learning and is just one example of the many ongoing efforts by An Garda Síochána to reduce antisocial behaviour and to protect our communities.

A total allocation of €23.8 million provided in this year's budget to youth justice services will allow for continued good work in this field that is backed by evidence-based policy and practice. In line with the principles underpinning the Youth Justice Strategy 2021-2027, the significant increase in youth justice funding will be deployed with the assistance of the best available research and expert evidence. In the Department we are investing in ensuring any policy, programme or plan we roll out is underpinned by evidence and that it will have the effect and bring about the change we need.

I am conscious a number of communities have been affected by antisocial behaviour and there were incidents in the Cherry Orchard and Ballyfermot areas earlier in the year. Local Garda management immediately enhanced the high-visibility policing presence, together with the support and assistance of the Garda public order unit over the course of a number of weekends. This high-visibility policing has continued to date. However, the response should not just be about policing. Having visited the area and spoken to community workers and others, they are looking for a holistic and co-ordinated community safety-style approach. That is what is being worked on and it will be delivered.

As the Garda Commissioner has stated, accommodation is a crucial element of facilitating policing activities and we must further future-proof in this area. It is for this reason An Garda Síochána continue to engage with the Office of Public Works, OPW, on capital and maintenance work across Ireland. While still under discussion, this includes what the Commissioner has referred to as an exciting development of a substantial new Garda station and facilities on Dublin City Council lands at the comer of the R139 and the Malahide Road at Northern Cross. I am also pleased to say the new Garda building on Military Road will open in the coming weeks. The completed building will represent a major investment in policing from the Office of Public Works and the Department of Justice, as well as an investment in our city centre.

I reiterate that combating antisocial behaviour and keeping communities safe, particularly with regard to Dublin city centre, encompasses the work of multiple Departments and State agencies. My Government colleagues will outline throughout the debate the ongoing work of their Departments in this area and I am glad to be here with them today to reaffirm the Government's commitment to this issue. My Department will always support An Garda Síochána and all the justice agencies to make Dublin city centre safe for all. We will work with all colleagues in this House because we all have the same objective of reaching this goal.

Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy Malcolm Noonan)

On behalf of my colleagues, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, I welcome the opportunity to speak on the important issue of our capital city.

I wish to inform the House of my Department's policy initiatives in Dublin city, including local authority funding, emergency services and housing. Like all local authorities, Dublin City Council is an independent statutory body with reserved functions vested in its elected members, and the staffing and organisational arrangements necessary to carry out those functions are the responsibility of its chief executive. Nonetheless, much of what I have to say refers to the excellent work of Dublin City Council. The national planning framework sets out a vision and strategy for Ireland in 2040 and acknowledges the importance of communities. It seeks to achieve more regionally-balanced urban and compact growth and recognises the critical role to be played by Dublin and other cities. Ireland performs well in the areas of economic outlook and stability but less so in those of quality of life and environmental performance. Dublin ranks outside the top 30 cities in the world for liveability. I acknowledge there is much to do and wish to share some of the work being done.

My Department provided €737 million in 2020, €724 million in 2021 and over €305 million to the end of August 2022 to Dublin City Council. This includes unprecedented support provided during the Covid-19 pandemic, including €260 million in respect of a rates waiver 2020 and 2021 and €54 million for Covid-related extra costs and lost income. For 2023, the Government is allocating €421 million to support local authorities to meet additional pay costs arising specifically as a result of the pay agreements and the unwinding of the financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI. This will ensure they have the necessary resources to provide essential public services. In fact, local authorities provide in excess of 1,000 services. The additional pay allocation for Dublin City Council for 2022 is over €46 million and this will rise to over €62 million in 2023.

My Department is very aware of the pressures of inflation and rising energy costs on local authorities.

We negotiated an additional €60 million supplementary support for the local government sector, with a provisional allocation for Dublin City Council of €5 million.

As committed to in the programme for Government, the move to 100% retention of the local property tax, LPT, will take place in 2023. For Dublin City Council, this will mean a surplus above its funding baseline, a greater proportion of which will be available to it in 2023. A comprehensive review of the current LPT baselines is to start in the coming months, including the overall funding position of Dublin City Council and other local authorities.

The council provides a number of emergency services, Dublin Fire Brigade being chief among them. It provides fire and rescue services to the four Dublin local authorities and an ambulance service on behalf of the HSE. Dublin Fire Brigade saves lives but also prevents damage to residential and commercial property daily. It serves a population of nearly 1.5 million people across 14 fire stations and has a staff of almost 1,000. Over the recent Hallowe'en period it received 234 calls which 169 related to bonfires during Hallowe'en. A campaign to target stockpiles of bonfire materials contributed to lowering the number of incidents. Local authorities have a budget of approximately €240 million annually for fire services. Additional support for development and maintenance comes from my Department’s capital programme.

The requirements of Dublin are somewhat unique and we are evaluating funding needs over the coming years. Dublin will receive money for appliances and for equipment and will benefit from the significant investment in communications infrastructure and training, with €27.7 million allocated to maintaining its fleet. The national directorate for fire and emergency management in my Department is working closely with Dublin City Council on new stations at North Strand and in west Dublin, with funding identified within the capital programme. The directorate issues an annual training programme which supports the delivery of effective services and provides standards and guidance on managing operational activities, including firefighting in high-rise buildings. Covid-19 presented challenges to recruiting and training new staff in Dublin. A plan was developed to increase the numbers across ranks and implementation has commenced. Some 108 recruits entered service in 2022 with 96 projected for next year. Dublin Fire Brigade will seek to maintain a panel of recruits to fill vacancies as they arise.

Moving on to housing, Dublin Simon Community works with the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive to provide outreach and engagement for adults who are sleeping rough. In the immediate term, more than 400 additional emergency accommodation beds are coming on stream in Dublin through a combination of new short-term leasing arrangements, the opening of a new facility and the reopening of a facility that was temporarily closed for essential works. Over half of these beds will be operational in the coming weeks and the remainder will come on stream in subsequent months. The Dublin Region Homeless Executive is entering into a leasing arrangement to secure the ongoing and inclusive use of a further 415 beds. The executive also recently activated its cold-weather strategy for 2022-2023 in the Dublin region.

Housing First is a key response to ending long-term homelessness among those with complex health and mental health needs. It provides the most vulnerable with a home for life, as well as wraparound supports. There are more than 420 individuals in a Housing First tenancy in the Dublin region. Over 700 new tenancies will be delivered under the new Housing First national implementation plan.

The housing assistance payment, HAP, discretion rate has been increased for all local authorities and this will secure tenancies to protect more families from homelessness. Measures under recently enacted legislation defer no-fault tenancy terminations until after March 2023, protecting renters who would otherwise face homelessness this winter. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O’Brien, has made it clear to local authorities that if tenants risk being made homeless due to a landlord selling the property, my Department will support the local authority to purchase the property.

With funding of over €4 billion, Housing for All aims to address social, affordable and private housing provision by increasing supply and thereby improving access to affordable rental homes. The Government is committed to building an average of 33,000 homes annually over the plan’s lifetime. The plan commits to building more than 9,000 social homes next year. It includes programmes for compulsory purchase of vacant properties, removing disincentives to selling or renting unused homes and imposing levies on vacant and derelict sites. Affordability measures are taking effect and a review of the planning system is almost complete. The Government has extended the first phase of Project Tosaigh, which is helping to create affordable and social housing out of other construction projects that cannot be completed as originally planned.

The Croí Cónaithe scheme has allocated €450 million until 2026 for the delivery of up to 5,000 apartments in our cities. Part of the Croí Cónaithe fund, namely, the vacant property refurbishment grant, is designed to boost home ownership in urban centres supporting people to refurbish vacant and derelict properties as housing, with grants of up to €50,000.

The living city initiative targets historic inner city areas and aims to regenerate heritage sites by offering income or corporation tax relief. The initiative aims to increase the supply of residential units in the market, while maintaining our historic buildings and creating more vibrant cities. The urban regeneration and development fund aims to deliver more compact sustainable development in Dublin with part-funding of regeneration and rejuvenation. By increasing residential and mixed-use development in the city; it will make Dublin a more attractive and vibrant city. My Department has allocated €2 billion in funding up to 2027 across the State.

The north inner city concept area is one of the eight regeneration projects in Dublin. Its goal is to achieve long-term sustainable regeneration around Smithfield and Parnell Square. The works include restoring heritage sites, promoting pedestrianisation and cycling, a new city library on Parnell Square and improving paving and street furniture. The restoration and interpretation of the Moore Street national monument by the National Monuments Service, NMS, and the OPW will further enhance the vibrancy of the city centre.

Under the North East Inner City, NEIC, initiative, the Department of Rural and Community Development is providing €7.5 million towards the regeneration of this area in 2022 to help ensure that the recommendations of the Mulvey report are implemented. The programme implementation board is focusing work on six areas, namely, enhanced policing, maximising education, training and employment opportunities, family well-being, enhancing community well-being and the physical environment, substance use and misuse and inclusion health, together with the alignment of services. Capital projects which received Department of Rural and Community Development funding include the Rutland Street community hub, Diamond Park redevelopment, Charleville Mall Library, and the NEIC greening strategy implementation.

Finally, I will highlight just two initiatives administered by Dublin City Council and funded by the Department of Rural and Community Development. These are the community enhancement programme and the community activities fund. The community enhancement programme provides capital funding to community groups with 15 groups sharing over €200,000 in 2021. This money funds facility development in disadvantaged areas, typically by improving buildings, developing community amenities and purchasing equipment. This year the community activities fund provided over €400,000 to 61 priority target groups agreed by the Dublin city local community development committee. These non-profit voluntary groups tackle mental health challenges and isolation, in addition to issues facing Travellers, the Roma community, the long-term unemployed, new communities, parents and marginalised children.

There is so much more to discuss and we look forward to a very important debate on Dublin city.

An Ceann Comhairle

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan. In the Sinn Féin slot, we will have Deputies Ó Snodaigh, O'Reilly, Mitchell and Martin Kenny.

Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Deputy Paul Donnelly is also due to share.

Chathair ársa Bhaile Átha Cliath is ea mo chathair, agus cathair do bhreis is 1,250,000 daoine atá ina gcónaí ann. Rugadh agus tógadh sa chathair seo mé agus táim an-bhródúil gurbh as an chathair dom. Leis an méid sin ráite agam, tá fadhbanna bunúsacha sa chathair nach bhfuil an Rialtas láir ag tabhairt fúthu agus nach bhfuil de chumhacht nó d’acmhainn ag Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath nó ag na comhairlí eile atá timpeall uirthi tabhairt fúthu.

Is iad na fadhbanna is mó sa chathair seo ná fadhbanna coiriúlachta seachas na cinn atá in a lán ceantar eile maidir le seirbhísí agus a leithéid a dhéanaimid plé orthu go minic. Tá ceantair i mo dhúiche féin nach bhfuil páirc pheile acu cumadh, fiú amháin, agus gan soláthar ceart tithíochta a bheith acu don éileamh áitiúil atá ann. Tá fadhbanna acu le díol drugaí oscailte le breis agus 30 bliain i roinnt de na ceantair ina bhfuil mise i mo ionadaí orthu, mar aon leis an bochtanas leanúnach atá i gceist. Is é Baile Átha Cliath 8 an ceantar is mó turasóireachta in Éirinn. Cad iad na pictiúir a fheiceann an chosmhuintir gach uile lá agus na híomhánna a fheiceann turasóirí agus iad ag siúl tríd an gceantar seo timpeall ar Guinness, Cill Mhaighneann, nó a leithéid de cheantar? Feiceann siad daoine ar ísle brí, ag lorg deirce, iad siúd atá ar dhrugaí, iad ag siúl timpeall ar thámhnéal, ag déanamh caca ar thaobh an bhóthair nó ag sá snáthaid, mar fhaoiseamh, iontu féin í mbéal dorais fliuch. It is not just in Dublin 8 that there is the sight of those addicted to drugs gathering to score and to shoot up, to beg, plead, steal or whatever is possible to get the price of the next fix. They need help and not to be on the street.

They need more rehab beds, supported accommodation, mental health interventions and more. More so, however, they, and we in this city, need the criminal drug gangs dealt with from the ground up and from the top down at the same time.

Despite the success of An Garda Síochána, we need many more gardaí across the city, in our community, seen openly and on a much more permanent basis than has been the case for most of the years of my life in this city. They are needed in our tourist areas, where the crimes associated with drugs - open drug dealing, harassment of people, intimidation, thuggery and wanton destruction of property - take place. It is not just the tourist areas but every single area, in particular the working-class areas of the city. Those communities have been plagued by those who are involved in this. What message goes out to the youth if, for instance, Garda Síochána cars drive by when open drug dealing is happening? That happens day in, day out. Those Garda members know where it is happening. They know where cars are being robbed. That has happened continuously.

I know that the Minister has said the Commissioner is taking a more proactive view on that. I have been around in this House for over 20 years and I have heard that day in, day out. It is not happening quickly enough and not happening continuously and, because of that, we are left with continued fear of crime. People cry to me in my office continuously and go home at night and hope that they can close the door and that the thuggish elements outside will not come into their homes in whatever way. The advice to those who have had threats made against them because of a son's or other relative's drug debt is to pay up. That is the advice not from me but from gardaí on the beat and elsewhere. What type of message goes out when An Garda Síochána will not go into an area without the armed response unit or the public order unit?

The reason that this has happened at this scale in Cherry Orchard and places like it is that those places have been ignored for too long. I acknowledge that the Minister and many other Ministers have come to Cherry Orchard since the incident in which two gardaí got injured in an attack involving another car. That should not have happened. It would not have happened, I believe, if action had been taken when those cars were being taken week in, week out, and were burned in the exact same place. At least now people are starting to listen and to pay heed. I welcome the Minister's interest. I just hope that this is not one of those times when An Garda Síochána starts off but does not deliver on what it has promised.

Deputy Denise Mitchell

The austerity years saw previous Governments introduce devastating cuts to vital services, which left many communities across this city feeling like they had to fend for themselves. The fallout from cutbacks in Garda numbers can be seen on our streets. Although Garda staffing has been restored to close to the levels we had in 2008, gardaí are still not visible in our communities. Those numbers have begun to drop again, with the latest Garda figures now showing we have 200 fewer gardaí than we had in 2020. The day-to-day experience of those seeking help from the Garda is that complaints are not followed up.

The recent scenes in Cherry Orchard were a reality check for some, but it is only because they were caught on video that they got so much attention. They are an example of what residents in communities in Dublin have to put up with. Such scenes of antisocial behaviour are not uncommon.

We all have the right to feel safe in our communities, and residents have the right to expect protection from the Garda when gangs run riot in robbed cars, intimidate residents and openly sell drugs on our streets. Many residents in my community feel like prisoners in their own homes, which is simply not good enough.

According to the figures on the Department of Justice website, there are roughly 150 fewer gardaí in Dublin this year than there were at the end of 2020. This has an impact on the city centre. Talbot Street and North Earl Street are two streets that come to mind where open dealing is seen. That area is derelict. It has shuttered and closed up shops dotted around it and really needs regeneration.

The latest "RTÉ Investigates" piece shone a light on how O'Connell Street has become extremely neglected. It is heartbreaking to see the once vibrant city centre being allowed to rot. It is time we restored some life into this city in the form of a living city, with a spirit at the heart of it. We need to look at how we start attracting small and medium-sized businesses back into the city so we do not see all these shuttered shopfronts everywhere we turn.

There are so many galleries, museums and other cultural hubs throughout Dublin, leaving people with a real sense of the history and culture of the place. However, there is no doubt but that we could do more to promote both Irish culture and other cultures that have emerged in Dublin in recent decades. The plans to demolish the Cobblestone were a recent example of how much those seeking to develop our city could not care less about the significance of cultural hot spots. Those plans led to demonstrations, and people showed their disgust at the proposals put forward.

We in Sinn Féin have long argued that Moore Street be turned into a historical quarter that showcases the rich history of the area and commemorates the men and women who fought and died in the area during the 1916 Rising. It would make economic sense, would give the area a face-lift and would be a huge attraction to tourists.

Dublin city is crying out for leadership in respect of the use of public spaces, forward planning and general regeneration that is so badly needed. While we await the report of the citizens' assembly and the result of any vote that may follow, it seems to me that a directly elected mayor for Dublin could be a breath of fresh air if we do it right. The office of the mayor would need to be resourced from central government. A mayor would provide an element of accountability in how our city is run. We need to look at how we make the city more affordable and accessible for the younger generations living in it. We need to make it warm and inviting for them to socialise in it. It is their city too, and we should all aim to pass on to them a city of which we, the people of Dublin, can be proud.

Deputy Louise O'Reilly

I was just thinking, before getting to speak, that I have lived in Dublin for most of my life: I was born in Dublin 10, I have lived in Dublin 8, Dublin 6, Dublin 7, Dublin 1, Dublin 18 and Dublin 12, and now I live in County Dublin. I know my city and my county very well. I am very lucky to be from Dublin and to live in Dublin. It is and should be a great place to live, to work, to do business, to rear kids - all the stuff we expect and we should demand of our Government to provide for our capital city and county.

Like many cities, towns and villages, Dublin city has fallen into a state of disrepair, and nobody could dispute that. Anyone who walks around the city can see it. It has lacked care and attention from successive Governments for years, while at the same time it has been subjected to some atrocious policy decisions on the part of senior management in Dublin City Council. If you walk around the city, you will see disrepair and neglect at nearly every street corner. The men and women who clean the city get up early in the morning. They are the people the Minister's boss is so very fond of. They get up very early in the morning and work really hard. However, they are dealing with understaffing and those atrocious policy decisions and trying to navigate around what is, quite frankly, a disturbing and confusing array of signposts, electrical boxes and other bits and pieces on the street. It makes it tough for people who are visually impaired to get around and tough for people who are trying to keep the city clean.

The proliferation of poles and signposts in Dublin city makes tourists ask why we have a city that looks this way. Part of that is due to the decisions made by Dublin City Council and the neglect of successive Governments. There is hardly anywhere to sit. There are very few public toilets and very few bins. It is actually embarrassing at times.

There is a more sinister element, however, to which my colleagues have referred. There is open drug dealing in our capital city and in the suburbs and the county. Open drug dealing is to be seen on O'Connell Street, Talbot Street, North Earl Street and Henry Street. It is incredibly off-putting. People do not feel safe. When the sun goes down in Dublin city centre, people do not feel safe and that is wrong. Vulnerable people, people with disabilities, members of minority groups, migrants and members of the LGBTIQ+ community have reported a marked increase in hate crimes, including gender-based violence, homophobic and racist attacks. In addition many people do not feel safe on public transport. I was interested to hear backbenchers from the two Government parties in the run-up to the budget and immediately following it saying they wanted to see a dedicated transport police service but it was not in the budget. They talked about it but no funding was in the budget. We need to have a look at how we can make public transport safe. The recent news that the tolls are going up should encourage people to use public transport but they will not use it if it is not safe. Nobody is going to get on the bus, DART or Luas unless they feel safe. That requires a dedicated Garda presence. For many years we have called for a plan to reimagine and repurpose Dublin city and for similar plans to be delivered for towns and cities throughout the country. I call on the Government to stop using the changing retail landscape as an excuse to do nothing. I have raised this with the Tánaiste. When we see the shuttered shops, the former Debenhams and such places, he just shrugs and says people are changing and retail is changing. People are going online. He leaves it at that. That is not right.

We should fight for our capital city. We should fight to ensure that we have shops and businesses and that people have a reason to come into town. We need to get people back into town by offering them a better experience. We have to make people want to spend time in our towns and cities and not just to spend money. Yes, people should spend money but should want to come into town to dwell, to be in town, to soak up the atmosphere and the culture, to see the sights and to want to be there. They will of course spend money; we know that. We need to ensure that Dublin city offers people a great experience, which means a relaxed atmosphere, pedestrianised streets through which to stroll peacefully and look in shop windows. We need a visible Garda presence, clean roads and footpaths. We need public toilets, bins and seats, all of the things that come together to make our capital city a place where people actively want to be. We need outdoor dining and drinking spaces, true public spaces where people can relax, outdoor and indoor markets and public spaces for arts and culture. We need public toilets, a vibrant night-time economy and we need to make sure our towns and cities cater for those who live there. If we make Dublin city an enjoyable and exciting place, more people will be willing to visit more often and spend more time there. There is a great deal of scope here to reimagine and repurpose Dublin city for the communities who live, work and spend time there. Otherwise all that will be left will be novelty leprechaun shops, burrito bars and hotels, lots and lots of them. What we need are homes that are affordable for working people to be able to rent and buy so that they can live in Dublin city, so that it is not closed off to them, so that they can make a life in Dublin city and raise their kids in Dublin city in safety.

We deserve a capital that is thriving.

Deputy Helen McEntee

It is thriving.

Deputy Louise O'Reilly

We should have a capital that is thriving. The people in the capital are doing their very best but they feel as though they are engaged in a battle with this Government. That is a fact. We need to see the conditions created to enable people to raise their kids in safety, build a life for themselves and ensure that Dublin city is a place where people want to be because it is a fantastic place to live. It is a brilliant place to bring up kids. It is a wonderful place in which to do business. However, all of that is at risk. We need investment and we need it badly.

Deputy Paul Donnelly

The recent RTÉ programme on O'Connell Street and the videos emerging from Cherry Orchard put a spotlight on policing, drug misuse, open drug-dealing and general antisocial behaviour There is also a growing feeling that the public transport system in some areas of Dublin is not safe for either passengers or staff. On a weekly basis, we hear of buses terminating before the final stop because it is not safe to drive into some estates due to antisocial behaviour. As well as leaving residents, commuters and visitors feeling nervous, this puts already stretched members of the Garda under huge pressure. Every week in this Chamber we hear that for us to reach our climate goals, we need to massively increase public transport infrastructure. We need more buses and trains. To encourage people to make the switch from cars it must be affordable but a fundamental piece of the jigsaw is also that it is safe, that there is security on our buses, trams and trains in the city.

Open drug use and dealing is a common sight in the city and suburbs and on public transport, as well as disturbing levels of antisocial behaviour and violence. Everyone should be and feel safe on our public transport. Sinn Féin has consistently called for the establishment of a dedicated public transport police unit to address antisocial behaviour and other criminal activity on public transport and at transport hubs. The negligence of the Government properly to resource An Garda Síochána to tackle these issues is a major concern. In 2016 I read a report on a retired garda, Trevor Laffan, who said “I was a garda for 35 years and I can tell you community policing has been destroyed”. That is a strong statement from a former garda who was passionate about community policing and its benefits to both the Garda and the community. In Dublin 15 we have a dedicated and hard-working community policing unit. However it is in no way near to being properly resourced in terms of personnel needed. Dublin 15 and Dublin 7 are some of the most diverse and fast-growing urban areas in the State. We have one Garda station. Limerick has three. We have one third of the Garda personnel that Limerick has and yet we both have similar populations. In fact, Dublin 15 has now increased to about 110,000 and Limerick is just below 100,000. Since 2018, we have seen a decrease of 168 gardaí deployed to a public order unit. In terms of overall policing, while the numbers of members has been climbing slowly since Templemore was reopened, a significant number of new Garda members leave annually. This trend, together with retirements, is placing massive pressure on those who remain. This is of great concern. I have spoken first-hand to members of the force who cited issues with retention, recruitment and dissatisfaction with these new proposed rotas and conditions. I raised this with our local superintendent at our joint policing committee, JPC, in the Crowne Plaza, who admitted that retention is increasingly becoming a problem with an alarming number of new recruits leaving the force. It is such a concern that steps are being taken to look at why people who have only joined, that is, newly-trained people, are leaving.

We cannot and must not talk about policing in isolation. We cannot talk about community safety in isolation. To do so is to ensure that we continue to stick a plaster over the problems of disadvantage, poverty, drug misuse, addiction, violence and trauma. There has been an abject failure of successive Governments to tackle the root causes of crime, antisocial behaviour and drug misuse. Those of us who have worked in the community for decades have seen brilliant and effective holistic wraparound drug and misuse addiction services, early intervention initiatives, plans and strategies among a myriad of other measures starved of funding and decimated by cuts, as well as a refusal to properly fund them into the future. We have seen community services and activists isolated, ignored, minimised and dismissed by people in the HSE and particularly those in the national drugs task force. In 2019, all of the country’s former Ministers of State with responsibility for the national drug strategy united to call on the Government to restore confidence in the national drug strategy, particularly because the partnership approach which underpins the strategy was in danger of collapse. My recent conversations and work on the ground show that very little has changed since then. A county-wide project aimed at tackling crime, drug misuse and criminal and antisocial behaviour needs a multifaceted approach that has the funds to match its ambition of creating a safer Dublin. A Dublin mayor could be well placed to lead it.

Sinn Féin in government would stand up for communities to ensure they have a real say and a voice in a community that targeted education programmes like school completion, youth drug and alcohol services, counselling services, child and adolescent mental health services and community gardaí with adequate resources so people can live and work in a city they feel safe in.

Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

I thank the Minister for her presentation, for her presence and for her interest in this issue. I am from Dublin. I love the city, I believe in it and I want to see a vision for it. Dublin city houses people from all over the world and, indeed, people from all over this country. On that note, may I state my disgust at any Member of this House suggesting that this country or any part of this country is being overrun by anybody. I think that if a Member of this Oireachtas comes in and makes statements like that, we have to challenge them at all times. Dublin city is a much more vibrant, colourful, exciting and culturally rich city than the city I grew up in and we need to stand by that and defend that.

We need to have a 20-year vision for what we want Dublin city to look like. When I mention Dublin city, I am talking about the city between the canals. It is about what kind of transport we expect to have and what we want the city to feel like. I think we have to de-car the city; we have to pedestrianise the city radically. I have a four-year-old daughter and, I have to be honest, when I go into Dublin city with my daughter, I am constantly on watch for her safety because of the nature of how we have given over the city to the private car. If people go in with their elderly relatives, they feel the same thing. Why do we not have a radical approach to O'Connell Street and pedestrianise it? Why do we not turn O'Connell Street into the big civic plaza that this city needs? I know Dublin Bus will have strong opinions about that, and we can talk about that and maybe we can only pedestrianise one side of it, but we certainly need to reclaim parts of the city that have been given over to cars and to recast our brains as to how we can enjoy the city more.

With regard to Culture Night in Dublin city, we should have a feeling like that at least every weekend. It should feel like a vibrant, culturally rich place where people want to be and want to be around, walk around, bump into each other and communicate with each other and have those human interactions. We should not just have that feeling once a year. It should be a weekly thing.

The Minister mentioned football. I am fascinated by her comments about what is happening in terms of integrating young people and empowering young people. If we go to any city in Europe as a football fan, as I tend to do, we see that football tends to be one of the ways that a city expresses itself. When we come to Dublin city, the football grounds are falling down. There are conversations around Tolka Park, conversations around Dalymount Park, conversations around Richmond Park, all in the city centre area, all League of Ireland premier league grounds. There should be investment in and understanding of that type of city that believes in that football culture, not just once-off glamorous announcements about Euro 2028 coming to town, which is fine. However, that always replaces the potential we could have for big European clubs to come here all the time if our league was invested in better, because of a better experience of going to a League of Ireland ground, because of a professional women's league, because we have players here who are going to the World Cup and who are playing in that league. This is the sort of basic thing that every other city in Europe takes for granted.

The Minister talked about policing. We cannot police our way out of this. We have to address, as has been suggested, the underlying issues of housing, poverty, disadvantage and drugs. I see the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, is present. It is a scandal that the injecting centre has not been up and running since it was passed by these Houses in 2017. It is an incredible failure of the imagination of this Government to make it happen. I say that directly to the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, because there could have been an imaginative approach to how we can stop people dying in alleyways in our city centre. Other European countries and cities across Canada and Australia have made these interventions because they believe in their city and they understand their city. Yet, even though legislation has been passed for the last five years, we waited for a High Court case and we did not have a contingency plan. We could have a mobile clinic or we could have a mobile intervention - we could have done something – but, no, we have just left the situation to persist and people are still dying in the alleyways of our city centre. We are letting it happen because, fundamentally, they are not important enough and if they do not overdose fatally, they leave a lot of the drug litter behind them and there could be excrement involved - it is a pretty unsightly experience for everybody. These interventions are important. It sometimes seems as if the Government is waiting for something else to happen or for somebody else to make it happen.

There are some practical suggestions. We need a task force of sorts to look at five, ten, 15 or 20 years hence. We need to talk radically about pedestrianisation and we need to talk radically about the need to de-car the city. People will complain about that but we have to do it. We need to talk radically about making public transport free, so people can hop on a free bus in Dublin, hop on a free train in Dublin, hop on the Luas in Dublin for free, for all of those opportunities that people want to have of coming into the city centre and enjoying a cultural experience and it being free because we have invested in Dublin city in that way.

On policing, we absolutely need a sense of security in our city centre but it is as if it is the go-to political response that we always say "more gardaí". Yes, we will always need more gardaí and there will never be enough gardaí, but we have to make the city policeable. If we have that volume of people who are in the city enjoying themselves and believing in the city, crime goes down not because there are gardaí everywhere, but because people feel prouder of it, they feel part of it, they feel connected to it and they feel respected by it. I taught in a part of the north inner city and the kids would say they did not feel respected when they walked outside their own area, and if they walked into a shop they would get followed because of how they speak, how they dress or the address they are from. We need to respect this city and the people from the city.

People talk about resources. I would make this bald point, and I direct this at the Minister’s party colleagues who sit on Dublin City Council and, indeed, many party groups on Dublin City Council who consistently, every year, cut the funding through the local property tax, some €12 million, that could be available to do all of the things that people in this Chamber are now complaining about. Every year, consistently, some groups in the city council, including the Minister’s group, cut the funding to Dublin City Council. We cannot complain about lack of resources, lack of bins, lack of infrastructure, lack of Dublin City Council resources, if consistently, every single year, political parties in the chamber of Dublin City Council, having the opportunity to stand up for the city, do the populist thing and cut the property tax by 15%.

In saying all of that, I feel that, as others have said, the potential for a directly elected mayor of the city would give the civic leadership that has been lacking. I know there has been a citizens’ assembly on that and we want to see movement on it, and the Labour Party is supportive of that role. If we had that civic leadership, we would have buy-in to a long-term vision for the city. Let us be honest, the mayor is somebody who is in for a year and out after a year and does not really have an awful lot of power as all of the power is with the city manager or the CEO of the city council. There is a democratic deficit and the mayor's role has been reduced to being somebody who maybe gives moral authority to a cause or gives a level of civic leadership, but does not have the five-year term of office with the powers that are necessary in order to drive real change or accountability. For example, when the issue comes up about O’Connell Street, who is the obvious political leader to go to? Who is the obvious person who is going to feel responsible for this? Is it the Minister for Justice, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications or somebody else? There could even potentially be justification for a junior Minister for Dublin. We have junior Ministers for everything else so that could be something the Government could consider as well and it could work on a national level with the local city council.

Deputy Helen McEntee

If we did that, we would need to have one for Cork as well.

Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

I love Dublin. It is where I am from and it is where my child is from. One does not have to have a heritage in the city to be a Dub, however. A person or his or her family can be from anywhere in the world but have the added advantage of being a Dub as well.

We need to think strategically and have a vision for what we want the city to be like in 20 years. Let us decarbonise the place, put civic engagement and community at the heart of it, fund it properly and give it civic leadership. When it comes to basic infrastructure, I mentioned football because I have an interest in it. That suggestion is something the Minister should take seriously. Every other city in Europe has it.

Deputy Seán Crowe

We all have a vision of the Dublin we would like to see. It needs to be a safe place. I have never been frightened to go into any area of the city, but I know other people who have been frightened to do so. I know people who are terrified in their own homes every night of the week.

It also needs to be a place in which ordinary people can afford to live. I do not think any other speakers touched on that. If we are talking about the future of Dublin, it has to be a place for everyone, not just an elite few who have a lot of money. It has to be an inclusive place, regardless of colour, creed or sexual preference. It should not be a city where there is a divide between the haves and the have-nots. I spoke earlier in the week about how Dublin has grown. It is a city of well over 1 million people. Buildings are getting higher and the population density is increasing. Successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments have prioritised economic growth in the city and its surrounding areas. That has driven population growth and migration to the area. However, those Governments have also presided over a system that has resulted in it not being affordable for ordinary people to live in Dublin, and that needs to be addressed.

Emergency services have not experienced the same level of investment or growth. In many cases, it has been the opposite. The current state of emergency services in the capital is not adequate for the population. The fire brigade is crying out for support in the middle of a staffing crisis. Ambulances with seriously ill patients in the back of them are waiting outside hospitals. Many community gardaí are treated like supersubs. They are used for everything, such as duties outside embassies or at concerts. They plug the gaps all the time, but that increasingly takes them away from the communities with which they should be working in order to build relationships. Speaking about the way in which the Defence Forces have been decimated would take more time than I have here today. Dublin Fire Brigade has been highlighting severe understaffing. The House discussed that issue last night. There has been Government inaction for years. Staff shortages such as those being experienced by the fire service and other emergency front-line services are further proof that the Government is not serious about the safety of Dubliners. We need a fire service that has the equipment, staff, capacity and capability to respond to fires and all other potential incidents. We do not have that at the moment.

At a meeting of the health committee yesterday, we were informed by the HSE that the percentage of Ireland's population comprising older people is rising faster than in any comparable country, which is great, but that information came in the context of dangerous overcrowding in hospitals and the inability of ambulances to discharge patients into the care of hospitals and then get back on the road to help those in need. Apparently, it takes more than an hour, on average, for ambulance crews to discharge patients and resume their duties. The HSE target is 13 minutes. I know of cases where ambulances have been outside hospitals all day. Two weeks ago, 11 ambulances were stuck outside Tallaght hospital.

Overt community policing is a very effective use of resources. Not only does it prevent criminal activity, it builds relationships with communities, young and old. Unfortunately, a lack of a police presence in some areas has emboldened a few people who now believe they have a space to do what they want. I regularly hear the same story from constituents - they have never before seen the current level of open drug dealing. If the Minister of State, speaks to anyone in my constituency, that is the message he will hear. Crack cocaine, with all the destruction it brings on individuals, families and communities, has now got a foothold in parts of Dublin.

If we are serious about safety in Dublin, we must recognise that the emergency services cannot cope with significant population increases without proper planning, supports and financial investment. There are small but effective actions we can take now while we recruit more emergency personnel and put policies in place to allow us to retain experienced members and crews. That must include improved pay and conditions. In policing, we need more overt patrols, the roll-out of body cameras to all gardaí, and a dedicated transport unit to safeguard commuters. Hospitals must be empowered to engage in proactive solutions such as the pathfinder service. The latter allows for people to be treated in their homes, thereby freeing up space in emergency departments. We must establish an Oireachtas committee to conduct a short and sharp review of how the national fire service is delivered across the State.

It the Government wants Dublin to be a safe place in which to work and raise a family in the future, it has to be affordable. Proactive measures must be put in place, and not just when the system breaks down under greater population pressure. There are solutions and approaches we can take that will improve people's lives overnight but we need to get the basics right.

Deputy Neale Richmond

I greatly appreciate the opportunity to contribute to this debate. Such a debate has been requested multiple times by Deputies on all sides of the House, be it through parliamentary questions, Topical Issue matters, Questions on Policy or Legislation or Leaders' Questions. I hope the debate is being approached in a positive manner. Like most of the speakers so far, I love being from Dublin. That is something that those of us who are lucky enough to live in the capital, be that in the city or in the county, do not say enough. Whether we have been born here, brought up here or recently moved here to make a home or living, we sometimes get a little defensive and are not proud to say that being from Dublin is great. We are lucky to live in this capital city. It is one of the finest capital cities not just in Europe but in the world. Anyone who has travelled across the world will have noticed that Dublin holds its own consistently in many areas beyond the economic. In social and cultural contexts it is a European and global leader. That should be the basis for this timely and important debate.

Our capital is far from perfect. There are glaring issues that need attention. There is political difference on some of those issues, and that is understandable, but on others I like to think that, regardless of the party banner or label we attach to ourselves, there is a collective resolve and a relative agreement on them. Deputy Ó Ríordáin hates when I agree with him but a couple of the points he made were bang on. They are issues about which I have spoken for a long time and in respect of which I encountered push back, be that from officials or colleagues in my party or other parties. The notion of junior Minister for Dublin is not an absurd one. We see it in countries across the EU, where there is an obvious need to prioritise the capital city from a local government and administrative perspective and that fuels the economic, social, cultural and community growth of that capital. It is a responsible role, one that has been taken on enthusiastically in EU member states, and should not be dismissed out of hand. It merits consideration.

In due course, I will stray into the policy fields that are the responsibility of the Minister of State and the Minister, who has just left the Chamber.

There is significant merit in the idea of public realms and increased pedestrianisation, not just in city centre areas such as that represented by Deputy Gannon, but also in county boroughs and villages - the sort of places Deputies Paul Donnelly and Ellis and I represent. Through the pandemic, we saw how transformative they were and how they were embraced. There is a need for central government to work with officialdom in local authorities to embrace the vision and enthusiasm not just of elected city and county councillors but also the traders' groups and community groups who want to see an increased focus on pedestrianisation, particularly in the city centre.

Although I represent and live in a suburban constituency, this is as much my capital city as it is the capital city of someone like Deputy Gannon, who represents an area in the heart of the city, or someone such as the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, who represents a constituency far from Dublin, although it is not quite as far away as the constituencies of the Minister of State and Deputy Martin Kenny. It is something of which everyone who lives in the State has ownership. We all have an enthusiasm to see our capital thrive in every indicator. People have pointed out obvious concerns but increased pedestrianisation and the real concept of public realm, such as the partial or full pedestrianisation of O'Connell Street, is one area unrelated to justice that would have a significant impact on many, not just those who live and work in the close environs.

Other matters have consistently been raised that have not been pursued, for example, the notion of more open-air public swimming facilities. We obviously have Dublin Bay, which is wonderful, stretching along the coast, but the idea of a public lido in the north inner city, which has been proposed, is an obvious amenity that will not just serve the immediate community. We see how it works in the parks and boroughs of London, and how it can be such an addition to communities for 12 months of the year. There is also the increased support for plans that are in place, that have been funded but that need to come to fruition, namely, those relating to public libraries, cultural amenities and the much-lamented sports grounds, especially in the context of association football, where there is a significant issue with crumbling stadia and the inability to get key co-operation for an entire area. That kind of top-level stuff we all see and enjoy on a daily basis is very obvious.

What we are talking about, however - and the main reason this debate was sought - are the genuine concerns regarding public safety and public order in our capital. Many different incidents have gone viral on social media and have been well reported in the print and broadcast media, as well as being raised in the House, either directly or anecdotally, by Deputies from all parties and none. What this has to come back to - and it is the biggest issue in addressing this problem - is calculated investment in our communities, especially those that suffer the most, not just from small-scale criminality but also from what is clearly organised crime. That is why I appreciated the remarks of the Minister on the new community safety innovation fund established under her Department thanks to funding from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. In its first year of operation, €2 million was invested. We have seen that allocated to very worthwhile projects throughout the country, including more than €250,000 in the Dublin Central constituency, rising to €3 million in this year's budget, which is very welcome.

The clarity I must request, however - this is not directed to the Minister, Deputy McEntee, but more to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, or whomever holds that office in due course - relates to the fact that in 2021, An Garda Síochána, not the Criminal Assets Bureau, seized €16 million in cash from criminals. I appreciate that the pandemic allowed for a level of policing and a level of return on policing in the context of cash, drugs and contraband seizures that were of a much larger scale, but that €16 million has to be ring-fenced in its entirety and ploughed back into communities because it was not an anomaly. We consistently saw in the years prior to 2021 seizures of €9 million, €7 million, €7.5 million and €8 million. The most recent seizure was somewhere in the region of €12 million. All that money has been taken away from the very individuals and the absolute thugs who run the gangs and try to ruin all our communities, be they in Dublin or beyond. That money needs to go back into those communities that are suffering from the preying figures of gangland individuals who are trying to get ten-year-olds to mule backpacks of drugs across an estate or slightly older people to take a gun or whatever into their hands.

We see where that money can have a true impact on our communities. We see that youth diversion funding, thankfully, has gone up and been invested in the sorts of projects the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, regularly launches, speaks about and shows a genuine compassion for, including addiction treatment and drug diversion programmes. That is where we need to see that money going because that is the first stop. It is not the only solution, however. It will not make Dublin the safest capital city in the world overnight, but it will certainly have a significant impact. That is where we start. It is not necessary to have a political ideology of left, right or centre to recognise that genuine, co-ordinated, structured investment in communities is the first stop in any area and approach to a debate like this. When that sort of effort is made, it must be realised that it is only one strand. I imagine it is the most important, initial strand but it has to be done in tandem.

As I said, Deputy Ó Ríordáin hates when I agree with him, so I will disagree with him on one point relating to policing. Policing has a massive part to play in the re-imagination and reinvigoration of our capital city, especially the streets in the inner city area of central Dublin as opposed to the areas of County Dublin that Deputy Paul Donnelly and I represent. We have seen success with Operation Citizen and the important role high-visibility policing has to play. Deputy Gannon held a public meeting on the subject of O'Connell Street, which is something he is extremely passionate about and has spoken about throughout his career long before being elected to the Dáil. I remember him speaking about it at Dublin City Council. Believe it or not, I was one of those people who tuned into other council meetings to hear what he, and Deputy McAuliffe, as Lord Mayor, said, largely to get ready to mark them in general election debates or whatever else. O'Connell Street is the main thoroughfare of our capital city. In many regards, it is the main street of our country, north, south, east and west. That is where the work must begin in having consistent and constant high-level policing.

I absolutely welcome the announcement of a station for An Garda Síochána on O'Connell Street but the number of officers on the beat on O'Connell Street has to be drastically increased. We see where it has worked around the world, including Leicester Square and Times Square. We are very lucky to have the policing service we do in this State. It is very much a community-based policing service. Its members are not going around with machine guns looking to be intimidating spectres. The service seeks to provide that sense of safety and community outreach. We can be very proud of the work of An Garda Síochána and very glad there has been that increased level of determination when it comes to recruitment, not just of gardaí but of civilian staff. That is key. The 400 extra civilian staff that are being recruited should enable far more gardaí, be they newly attested from Templemore or moved from other districts, to get out on the beat in our city centre and our capital, particularly on O'Connell Street.

In order to do that, we have to meet the aims of an additional 1,000 members of the force. That requires some real acknowledgement of issues, including rostering, pay, conditions, and investment in the equipment. When I refer to equipment, I do not mean handcuffs and uniforms; I am talking about ICT, internal servers and the vehicles and means of transportation which ensure we have what I fundamentally believe is one of the best police forces in the world in An Garda Síochána, and which enable its members to police in a manner that is community focused but is also specific, including ensuring O'Connell Street is a safe place to walk, shop and do business 24 hours a day.

It is also about ensuring that the transport links that serve our capital city are consistently safe. Deputy McAuliffe was involved in the production of a policy document on a dedicated transport police. That is something which is, of course, at the discretion of the Garda Commissioner and his colleagues in An Garda Síochána, if they believe it is necessary. I welcome the fact we have seen increased patrols by An Garda Síochána on the Luas and DART, and in and around Dublin Bus services but, fundamentally, we need to look at a dedicated public transport policing service. It could be run out of the Phoenix Park or wherever else, just like other aspects of An Garda Síochána. It is something that many people want to see. When people talk about a feeling around Dublin, the response is that most crime statistics are down, but the feeling of security and safety cannot be banked in terms of statistics or crime figures. It can, however, be addressed by having that level of high-visibility policing on the street in our communities and on our public transport so that it can be concluded that when serious crimes take place, we see a level of, and attention to, sentencing that is respectful of that.

Most importantly, I think of our peace officers, which includes members of An Garda Síochána, the fire brigade, as had been mentioned, and the National Ambulance Service. Anyone who has the audacity to assault an individual in those organisations who is in the service of the State should know that not only are they assaulting an individual, they are assaulting the State itself and will face a mandatory sentence that is reflective of the need for natural justice in those cases.

I could fill another 13- minute speaking slot twice over, but I will leave it at that. I thank the Minister of State for allowing us to contribute to this debate.

Deputy Gary Gannon

I thank the Minister of State for bringing this debate forward and for his helpful contribution in listening to the statements of Members. Deputy Richmond is right. We do not say often enough that we love Dublin. As somebody who grew up and spends a lot of time there, it is a place I absolutely adore. It is for that very reason I want to fight for it. There are, without question, some problems that exist on the streets of Dublin. We could talk for hours about its many wonderful characteristics and attributes, and the people of Dublin, wherever they may come from, who spend their time in our city.

When problems emerge in our city and when, as happened a couple of weeks ago, the national broadcaster took an interest in a particular street on a particular day, too often we ask "Who is in charge?". Dublin has a democratic deficit. The reason I have been calling for statements on the city of Dublin for over a year - the first time the Business Committee agreed to statements on Dublin was in November of last year - is because I want to get some sense of collective control. There has to be a place for Parliament when it comes to our capital city.

The House will hear me talk about Dublin City Council quite a bit. I often do so in negative terms, because we can all do better. I want to enhance local government not just in this city but throughout Ireland. The council will often say it can only go so far in light of its remit. When issues pop up around the city that pertain mostly to addiction, An Garda Síochána will rightfully say that it can police the problem of addiction. I agree with that up to a point. The HSE has a responsibility, as does the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, when it comes to tackling dereliction. There are a multitude of vast and complex problems that Parliament must take an interest in if we are to reach the degree of satisfaction in respect of our city that we all want to reach.

It was the Government's decision to frame these statements as supporting the development of Dublin through safety initiatives and the appropriate provision of emergency and other services. That is probably not how I would frame it, but I am happy to start there. I do not believe there is one policing solution to the problems on the streets of Dublin. I know Ministers and contributors across the Chamber have acknowledged that to a degree but I want to go into it in more detail. There are short-, medium- and long-term solutions regarding the issues of safety in Dublin.

If we start by looking at long-term solutions, let us begin from a very simple premise. I am delighted that the Minister of State, who has responsibility for the national drugs strategy is with us. We can all agree that wherever they come from and whatever their situation, nobody grows up wishing to be afflicted by the scourge of drug addiction. Nobody wants to find themselves down a lane in the capital city injecting themselves or smoking poison. If we can accept that, we might also accept that the gateways to these scourges that destroy the lives of people, not just in the past year but since heroin use first penetrated into my city in the late 1970s, are poverty, trauma and neglect. They are gateways to the scourge because people self-medicate to deal with a pain I cannot even comprehend, and yet successive generations of people for over 40 years have continued to inflict that on themselves. If we accept that, we must accept that we can no longer criminalise addiction. To continue to criminalise addiction and the means by which a person self-medicates to deal with a trauma and pain I do not believe we can fully comprehend unless we have experienced it, means that we will be back here in 12 months' or five or ten years' time repeating the same mistakes.

If we accept that we can no longer criminalise addiction, and I hope the Minister of State accepts it, surely the solution to the issues of addiction we see on the streets of Dublin involves more than policing. Decriminalisation does not absolve people of responsibility; it means that for the first time in a modern republic, we accept it as an issue that needs a compassionate health-based solution. The Minister of State might say that we already have that and I believe he is earnest in that intent but while the law still criminalises addiction, it means we do not have access to supervised detox beds on a substantial level and safe injection facilities. We have not even started the conversation about consumption rooms. All of these constitute the first steps to treating people and take them out of the lanes because a criminal response has not done us any good. To use an old trope and cliché, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. We will not get that outcome until we change our approach drastically.

The medium-term solution is found in how we design our cities. If you walk down O'Connell Street, you will find nowhere to sit down. You will not find a public bench. If you walk into the communities surrounding it, you will find very few trees and not much in the way of parks. Dublin City Council carried out a safety audit in respect of women on the streets. Cat O'Driscoll, my constituency colleague, was part of the audit last week. It surprised me to a degree because in 2013, Dublin City Council not only signed up to but committed to enacting the UN Safer Cities for Girls programme, which also carried out an audit that identified the same things, namely, dereliction, an absence of street lighting, decay of the city landscape and people hanging around creating an unsafe environment for everybody, particularly women and young girls. In particular, women and young girls of colour, people of different nationalities and the LGBTQI+ plus community feel extremely unsafe. Dublin City Council committed to addressing that, but it has done nothing. It certainly did not do much when I was on the council between 2014 and 2021. Deputy McAuliffe might question that, but I would say it was not challenged to any degree. Design is really important.

When we talk about safety in a city, the manifestations of lack of safety include crime and the consequences of addiction on the streets but there are other forms of safety. There are significant respiratory problems among people who live around O'Connell Street and in the south inner city because of congestion and the fact that we consistently send car after car through those areas and clog them up. This is to the detriment of people who live close by. Respiratory problems make the city unsafe. If you have a disability, Crohn's disease or irritable bowel syndrome, there is nowhere in this city where you can go and use a bathroom without having to go into a coffee shop or spend some money. That makes the city unsafe. If you suffer from fatigue, there is nowhere for you to sit down in this city. That makes a city unsafe. As a result, design is key.

In the short term, without question, there is a role for policing. I welcome the fact that a police station will be opened on O'Connell Street and that we had Operation Spire and Operation Citizen. However, I do not welcome the fact that all these initiatives have done over the past couple of years is push the problems to which I refer out into the surrounding communities.

Regarding Operation Citizen and Operation Spire, when communities around Talbot Street, Liberty House, Seán McDermott Street and Hardwicke Street hear about these new initiatives, what they will rightly think - because they have experienced it for so long - is that the problems will just be transferred to other places on the merry-go-round. I was at a public meeting last night on O'Connell Street. I have no doubt that in three to four months' time we will be going to community meetings in Hardwicke Street and out as far as Ballybough because the problem will simply be pushed onto on the merry-go-round and we will be back to O'Connell Street next year. Somebody else will do a documentary and we will probably be back in here listening to Deputies talking about the state of the place unless we change it. I want more police on the street but I want quality policing. We have great gardaí but I want a community-based policing approach on O'Connell Street. I do not doubt that we need them there but we need gardaí who can link in with services such as Ana Liffey. We need more of that. It will enhance the city.

We also need to question who this city is being built for. In former working-class strongholds around Ringsend and East Wall, all you see are office blocks. A year or two years from now, or even before that, there will be nobody in those office blocks because the nature of work is changing completely. We have designed our city for a type of tech industry that will not exist. Hopefully, the industry will not go away, but the way people work there will certainly change. People will work in offices two or three days a week. We have already seen Meta halt development around those areas. We need to reinvigorate this city through housing people in it and through its culture in order that when we have shops that have lost commercial footfall to shopping centres on the M50, we can bring our artistic community into those areas and energise our city through art. That is how we enhance a city. The pride we associate with Dublin and how we project ourselves on the world stage have always been through our songs, stories, people and the communities that came here. If we are to enhance this city as a safe place through the eradication of crime, a compassionate approach to addiction and reinvigoration through art, we must make a start. This will have tangible outcomes and will make a difference. It will require joined-up collective thinking and a sense of responsibility. It will also require us to be strong, to demonstrate that leadership and to believe in this city, not just through our words but also through our actions.

Deputy Paul McAuliffe

I echo the comments of my colleagues from Dublin regarding how proud we are of the city. When we talk about its problems, we are often serving to denigrate the city we are all passionate about. I am very proud of Dublin. I am proud of its representatives when they play in Croke Park, when I visit many of the community projects here and when I travel to other cities and see what we do well. If we really care about the city and the place where we live, however, we want it to be better. From my perspective, having served for ten years on Dublin City Council, and had that honour of representing the city, there are five areas on which we need to work to strengthen Dublin's hand. We do not talk about this aspect in the House enough. Allegations are often made that Dublin gets everything and that the city is growing to the detriment of rural Ireland. There are as many problems in Dublin as there are in any other part of the world. I was once struck by the phrase "All the problems of the world exist in cities, but so do all the solutions".

If we listen to our own communities, they are telling us they want people who will make strong local decisions. We need reform of local government. The Government's Dublin Citizens' Assembly on local government structures in the city is a welcome step. If I was the Taoiseach, I would take its report, work with the Members of this House who have a mandate to represent the people of Dublin and legislate and implement the recommendations. I would not waste time in putting it out to a plebiscite and having an internal committee in this House to review it. I would take the report produced by Jim Gavin and I would legislate for its findings with gusto.

If we strengthen local government in Dublin, right from having an executive mayor, whether directly or indirectly elected, down to area committee structures, we will serve the people of this city to a great degree. By doing this, we will also hold to account the agencies that are allegedly meant to serve the people of Dublin, whether it is the National Transport Authority, EirGrid, etc. Agencies operating in this State should be accountable to the representatives of the people of the city. It should not be at parliamentary level; it should be at municipal level. The local government structures in Dublin city need to change. The Dublin Citizens' Assembly recommendations, in advance of being adopted, should be seriously considered. We should also have an advanced and accelerated process of implementing them by legislation.

Returning to the issue of agencies being accountable to the people of the city, millions of euro are being poured into my area. I represent Ballymun, Finglas, Glasnevin and Santry. These millions of euro are pouring in through drug task forces, youth centres and family resource centres. A great deal of money is also coming in from Tusla and the HSE. Often, however, there is little transparency concerning how decisions are made about where the money is spent. Equally, there is little co-ordination between different agencies. We need a more co-ordinated approach to service delivery, especially in those parts of the city left with a legacy in situations whereby large housing developments were effectively abandoned. There were decades in this State when we operated a policy of human set-aside. People were allowed to live on large tracts of land without proper services.

Many of these services are now in place. We should support the people who work in them but we must co-ordinate and strengthen how they are delivered. When I attend meetings, it is too often the case that the HSE and Tusla, and senior decision-makers in those organisations, are not represented. The people empowered to make decisions are not there to be held accountable for why decisions are made. There must be stronger local government, but also co-ordinated service delivery. Representatives of Rethink Ireland addressed several Deputies yesterday about social innovation. Mention was made of funding projects such as FoodCloud, etc. The best form of social innovation we could have would be by reforming public services and ensuring that the people who work on the ground are empowered.

We should also have a realistic approach to the drugs industry in this city. If there ever was a war against drugs, we have lost it. That war is over. I can walk out of this House and purchase drugs on any street corner. People tell me there are parts of their estates where the shop, as they call it, is open all hours of the day and night. We must accept, therefore, that drugs are freely available for sale and that thousands of people are purchasing these products. In fact, in my community, the drugs industry is probably one of the single largest employers. This is a very sad thing to say, but as other Deputies have said, it is a realistic response to the trauma that often exists. Many Deputies might not be aware of what a trauma-informed community is, but this is no different than the trauma that existed in previous decades when many parents, often men, languished in pubs. Many of them were the people who came out and fought against drugs in their communities.

The debate on drugs has, though, moved on from the anti-drugs marches. At that time, the concern was about the substance. It was felt that if we were to allow the substance to take hold it would ravage our communities and impact people's lives. We must stop thinking about the substance because the industry has a far greater impact on my area than the substance has on individuals. This is not to say that taking drugs is a positive thing or that I would necessarily agree with legalising drugs or with them being freely available. What I am saying is that there are criminal gangs - we all know their names - and they have a more detrimental impact on the safety of communities than the substances they are selling. We must, then, have trauma-informed communities and have the citizens' assembly on drugs next year and legislate for the implementation of its findings.

We have had a great deal of discussion at the policy level around the issue of the decriminalisation of drugs. I do not believe this conversation has happened at community level. Many families of people with addictions would be very much opposed to any sort of liberalisation, as they might say, of drugs because they do not want what happened to their family member to happen to any other person. We must engage with those communities and talk to them about what decriminalisation or drug reform might look like.

We must also address the question of housing. When I was elected to this House in February 2020, the only way the local authority I had left could provide housing was through large-scale, low-income, single-tenure housing. This was the only policy instrument available to local authorities. We could all criticise the Housing for All policy in respect of delivery and other aspects, but we can say with certainty now that local authorities have all the policy instruments to develop mixed-income, mixed-tenure public housing. They have the financial and legislative policy resources for cost-rental, owner-occupied affordable purchase and social housing.

The days of building places like Ballymun and Finglas, and concentrating low-income people in one place, and then not having the services to support those communities, should be gone. When we plan new communities, local authorities can now have this mix that we often debated on Dublin City Council regarding what percentage of what categories would go into which estates. We have now given local authorities the power to build these mixed-income, mixed-tenure estates. I wish to ensure that this idea of mixed-income, mixed-tenure and well-planned estates is embedded in the housing provision in future. This has been done. We have legislated for it in this House. We must now ensure that local authorities implement it.

The final proposal I have for Dublin concerns our economic success. We know all the things we have spoken about here often require resources. We should not underestimate the positive role that business, enterprise and economic development play in our city.

Among these are small operations where somebody starts his or her own business. It does not have to be an innovative idea that will change the world. It can be something mundane as far as a policy expert is concerned. It can be about providing a service, but that person setting up that small business has a huge impact in his or her local community. He or she is often the person who sponsors the GAA club quicker than any chain of stores. That impact, from that person in a small business right up to some of the biggest employers we have in the city, is critically important to this city being successful. There has to be a balance between those whom the city is for, but I go back to a comment that was made to me once by a company investing in Dublin that a great city to invest in is a great city to live in. If someone is making a decision to come here to build an office block, to own a piece of property and to do his or her business here, his or her managers, the people they work for and the people they are looking to attract and retain want a positive city to live in. If we want Dublin to be a successful economic city, we must make it a great city to live in too. By having stronger local government, co-ordinated public services that are connected with communities and a realistic approach to the drugs industry, if we build mixed-income and mixed-tenure communities that are well planned, and if we secure economic success and investment, we can make Dublin an even greater place than it is today.

Deputy Dessie Ellis

I take the opportunity to speak about a couple of concerns of mine. One, in particular, relates to the ability of the fire services to tackle fires in high-rise buildings. There are nine habitable buildings in Dublin above 13 storeys. There is the Alto Vetro, a 16-storey residential complex on the west side of Grand Canal Dock which reaches a height of 51 m; the Capital Dock, which is a mixed-use building with a height of 79 m and 23 storeys; Liberty Hall, which is almost 60 m high and has 16 floors; and, in my constituency of Dublin North-West, the Metro Hotel in Ballymun which is 52 m high and has 15 floors.

Dublin Fire Brigade has ladders that can reach the fourth floor of any building. The fire service also acquired a 42 m turntable ladder appliance for all high-rise developments. I am aware that Dublin Fire Brigade trains all operational firefighters and officers to deal with a full range of incidents, including fires in tall and complex buildings. In general, fire appliances carry the same standard 10 m and 13.5 m ladders, which enable firefighters to reach the fourth floor of a building and are only really suitable for what would be termed regular housing stock.

Dublin Fire Brigade receives fire safety certificate applications for planning applications. For each, the applicant must show he or she is in compliance with regulations. The fire brigade can grant or refuse such applications. Should a fire occur in one of these high-rise buildings, the fire service strategy is principally to fight the fire from an internal protected stairwell and, where possible, using external resources. Clearly, the fire service will be constrained by the equipment that is available to it. It is the opinion of a number of fire service personnel that the Dublin Fire Brigade is neither equipped nor trained to deal with fires in such high-rise buildings. This is a real concern in the wake of the tragedy at Grenfell Tower in London and, closer to home, the devastating fire on the tenth and 13th floors of the Metro Hotel in Ballymun in March 2018.

The tallest ladders that the fire brigade have are 30 m. This only allows the fire brigade to rescue people trapped on the seventh or eighth floor. What is equally concerning is that, according to members of the service, Dublin Fire Brigade has only one set of equipment for tackling fires in high-rise buildings and this equipment is kept at the Tara Street station. The fire service needs to be able to react and adapt to this rapidly changing city and have the resources and equipment to tackle emergencies and fires in existing and proposed buildings and complexes. Experts have modelled responses by the fire service, and their models show it takes a fire brigade 20 minutes longer to begin to tackle blazes that break out at 20 storeys than those on the ground floor. If you live at the top of a high rise, you will have to wait at least another 20 minutes before you can be rescued or for the fire service to put out the fire in your apartment.

Tackling a fire in a high rise is a complex operation, from finding out where the fire is to who needs to be evacuated. Operationally, the fire service will need to have the apartment manager present and have access to all the keys for the building, and with the varying quality of the building and of the building materials in Dublin, the fire service has to work on the premise that it has to evacuate everyone from the building. This is a very challenging exercise, especially if there are people who are trapped more than eight floors up.

Another concern I have is the ability of emergency vehicles to access underground parking areas, for example, in shopping malls. This was graphically brought home to me on Friday last when I was in an underground car park in a local shopping centre in Finglas when there was a very serious accident. A woman who was badly injured was left lying on the ground in the car park for more than two hours. She was in severe pain from her injuries. I rang the emergency services a number of times to get both the police and the ambulance services there. It took the ambulance more than two hours to arrive and the police failed to turn up. From the conversation I had on the phone with the emergency services, it became clear many ambulances were tied up at the hospitals waiting to have their patients admitted but, because of the overcrowding at the emergency departments, they had to wait until space was freed up in the emergency department. As a consequence, people such as the injured person I spoke about had to wait a substantial amount of time before they could get to be seen. It is not acceptable that people should be left in this condition for such a long time. When the ambulance arrived, it could not access the underground car park. The personnel had to park outside and make their way, carrying their equipment through the shopping mall, to the injured party. This must be the case, I suspect, for some, if not many, other underground facilities.

Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett

I am sharing time with Deputy Bríd Smith.

It frustrates me that every few months, or maybe every couple of years, there is a moral panic about antisocial behaviour, young people, violence and criminality and politicians jump up and down and call for more police, but what rarely happens is a serious engagement with the communities that are affected by deprivation, neglect, dereliction, poverty and the housing crisis and the lack of things for young people, particularly young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, to do. In between the moral panics, we do not seriously engage with those communities, young people and, most importantly, the groups and organisations in working-class communities that try to make things better and do positive things to give alternatives to young people to all that people are so quick to give out about.

I wish to cite the example of Monkstown Boxing Club in Monkstown Farm in my area. Monkstown Boxing Club started in the old Mounttown Flats, which were run-down flats in one of the most deprived and neglected areas in the entire city. It took many years for that community to force the council to redevelop that area, improve it and build a new community facility. One of the key groups there was Monkstown Boxing Club, which involved young people from diverse backgrounds -Traveller backgrounds, ethnic minority backgrounds and diverse social backgrounds - in the positive activity of boxing. They have done wonders in that community. Twenty years on, this year Jack Marley, became the youngest ever Irish heavyweight elite champion, coming back from the European Under-22 championships as a gold medalist. He is now training for the Olympics. Seán Mari, another young man from that club, an Irish elite champion, has just come back from Montenegro as the flyweight gold medalist from a multinational competition. He is also training for the Olympics.

Around him are fantastic coaches, including Paulie, James, Tommy and Darren, who do it all voluntarily, and loads of young people from diverse backgrounds. These are precisely the people who are often not reached by rugby or soccer clubs, the GAA or other sports. As the club coaches and the children themselves say, if they were not doing this, they could well be in serious trouble. With everything this club has done, since it was in the run-down Mounttown Flats, it still does not have a clubhouse of its own. It has no showers or changing rooms. It does not have a storage area. Just two weeks ago, in a community facility that is supposed to be the club's, the manager locked out the entire club and all of the local groups for ten days at a few hours' notice without any explanation. There are young people training for the Olympics. All of these young people took their protest to the council and trained on the streets in the cold to make the point to the council that this was unacceptable. These are the club's facilities and it has been locked out of it.

In fairness, the council is now engaging with the club and we are campaigning for a permanent home and to get it back into the clubhouse. It is an instance of the lack of engagement and the lack of support we give to people and groups who are trying to do positive things to bring people away from everything that politicians are so quick to neglect. I ask the Minister of State to take this salutary lesson on the need for important things such as boxing clubs and other positive initiatives in working-class communities where the communities themselves know best how to provide alternatives for young people.

Deputy Bríd Smith

I want to address several issues that are not central to the question of antisocial behaviour but are central not only to urban spaces in Dublin but to all urban spaces. There are wide issues regarding how we develop our cities and the spaces where people live. If we take Dublin 8 as an example, walking through it we would barely recognise the Coombe or the Liberties because the planners have had it their way. All of the big developments that have taken place and that are smothering the area are built for tourism and student accommodation. They are not for local people to live in but for money to flow through the area. This is precisely what I believe is at the heart of the planners and those who think about Dublin and other cities and how they will progress them. It is about getting the money from tourism and foreign students who have plenty of money to pay for dear accommodation and getting them spending.

There is another part of city life and this is the people who live in it: the children, old people and people who grew up there. They have very limited, if any, space in which to play, participate in sports, hang out together or sit in parks and squares. If they do have parks and squares, they are filthy. They do not have public toilets and they do not have proper seating. When we disrespect the population like this, we, in turn, get the disrespect back in spades.

The issue I want to focus on more than anything else is public transport. We are going through a period when we urgently need to move to free, frequent public transport to deal with the climate catastrophe and the cost-of-living crisis. What we are getting instead is the plan around BusConnects. I agree with the improved services and getting more linked services throughout the city and more night-time 24-7 services, but they are being pushed through when there is a severe staffing shortage. Throughout Dublin, particularly in the south central area where three or four new spines have been opened recently, we are suffering from a mass shortage of public transport. If we want people to feel safe in our city, especially vulnerable people, people with disabilities, women and elderly people, providing them with a reliable safe public transport system is crucial. How will they live and move around the city if they cannot depend on this? At the moment we cannot do so.

I will use as an example the 79 bus route. It is a famous route about which poetry and songs have been written. It goes through all of the little estates in Ballyfermot. Recently, it was taken out and two G spines have been put in its place. They go through west Dublin from Spencer Dock practically into Kildare. They are meant to run every ten minutes and they are meant to run all night. This is all great but it does not happen. The alternative that was provided for the 70 bus, the so-called 60 route, has not shown up. I have had answers from Dublin Bus on this as recently as today. At crucial times in the mornings when people are trying to get to school and work and in the evenings when they are trying to get home, the service has failed. It is getting worse all the time.

We had debates with BusConnects on whether it could delay the introduction of the G spine and the change in the routes and whether more frequency could be given to the estates in Ballyfermot. We were told it will have to proceed and the plan will be going ahead. This is despite acknowledging to us that the services were 150 drivers short. Go-Ahead does not have as much of the service but proportionately it is equally short of drivers. We ask why because the companies do good recruitment campaigns. They do recruit but they cannot retain workers. There is a plethora of reasons for this. The crucial one is the conditions for workers who drive buses. Long and antisocial shifts do not allow for a decent work-life balance. They also start on unequal pay. People have to be in the job at least four to six years before they begin to catch up with the senior drivers who do the same job and earn a different rate of pay. This has to end.

The idea we should adopt the neoliberal approach of attempting to privatise a vital public service by introducing competition that drives a race to the bottom and pushes down the pay and conditions of those who work in it is leaving us short-staffed. It is leaving us short-staffed in a serious way so that we cannot deliver a safe public transport system. This is related to antisocial behaviour and how people live in the city. This ideology for how live in our cities has to be removed. It is not all about money. It is also about a quality of life. It is about communities and people. It is about those who work for us and deliver these services in our city.

Following this debate, if we get the basics right and provide decent public spaces with public toilets, clean up areas, provide play areas, provide places that are safe and inviting and provide public transport that is safe and inviting, we can deal with many of the problems that have given rise to this debate in the first place. If we do not do this, we will leave behind many people in this city in terms of supporting whatever initiatives we may need to take in future to deal with the transport and climate crisis.

Deputy Emer Higgins

As a Dublin Deputy, I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate on safety in our capital city. Dublin is a brilliant city. It is a place I am proud to live and work in. It is a place to which people come from all over the world to visit and stay. Of course, we are not without our problems, and this is especially so when it comes to safety on our streets. Building stronger safer communities is a priority for the Government. We have seen this reflected very much in the actions of the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the Department. I am encouraged by the ongoing investment and innovation in making Dublin a safer place to live, work and visit.

Recently the issue of car theft and joyriding was brought to the fore in news and media coverage. We saw blatant disregard and disrespect for the safety of communities and the safety of gardaí on our streets. I commend the Minister, Deputy McEntee, the Department and the Garda on acting so quickly to engage with communities and send out the message that car theft is a serious crime to which there are serious consequences. While just one incident from this was caught on camera, unfortunately, for some communities their sense of security is threatened quite often by this sort of antisocial behaviour. This is not right. Supporting communities to take back the streets and speaking up to the Garda about perpetrators of crime and those engaging in antisocial behaviour is very important. This is where the importance of investing in community policing and a Garda presence cannot be overstated. In my constituency of Dublin Mid-West I am seeing an increase in car theft which I have to say is quite concerning. It is very important we continue to treat instances of car theft as serious crimes, because they are. We must put the necessary resources into cracking down on car thieves. A stolen car is sometimes treated as something of a low-level crime. It is not low level for the victim. It turns a person's life upside down.

The are implications for their transport and insurance, and claims are impacted. The shock of being the victim of a crime can be quite awful.

An issue I want to raise is catalytic converters being stolen from cars in estates in my constituency. It is an issue about which I am hearing more of by way of reports coming into my office and I know the Garda has reported the theft of catalytic convertors is on the rise. For us in Dublin Mid-West, complaints have come in from victims of such crime in Saint Helen's, Adamstown, Newcastle and Rathcoole, to name but a few areas. What is the Department and, indeed, the Garda doing to address this issue? Catalytic converter theft is a known risk among drivers and gardaí. There is a need for regulations on their installation when it comes to theft prevention. I know that is not directly within the remit of the Minister, but I wanted to put it on the Dáil record.

The best way to make people feel safer on our streets in Dublin is to improve Garda presence. Increased visibility to deter anti-social and criminal activity works and it also makes people feel safer. In order to increase Garda presence, we need more gardaí. We need to bring in new recruits and ensure An Garda Síochána is an attractive career path for people. Whether it is traffic management, community policing, or cracking down on antisocial behaviour or gangland criminality, we cannot keep our streets safe without our gardaí. Garda presence is important at all points of the day, but especially in the evenings and night time.

It has been said that certain areas of Dublin city can be a little intimidating and, frankly, unenjoyable to be around at night time. The combination of a lack of rubbish bins and public toilets, as well as the more sinister activities such as antisocial behaviour and open drug-dealing, are real issues in parts of our capital. O’Connell street is one of Ireland’s most iconic and well-known streets but, in reality, many Irish people feel it is the last place they would want to be alone at night time, and that is sad. Whether a person is coming home from work or school, waiting for a bus or walking to a bar or restaurant, at times, there is a distinct feeling of insecurity around Dublin’s main street.

I welcome the ongoing work done by gardaí in Store Street Garda station under Operation Spire. They are targeting antisocial behaviour and drug dealing around the area to restore safety and security to O’Connell Street. That will make it a safer place to walk, shop or wait for a bus.

We cannot talk about safety on our streets in Dublin without speaking about public transport as they are so closely linked, especially when it comes to night life and the night-time economy. I add my support to calls for a dedicated public transport police, which we heard about this afternoon. By and large, being on public transport in Dublin is a safe place to be and staff working across our public transport links do a great job at keeping people safe, but they can only do so much. The visible presence of a public transport police, especially on city-centre routes, would contribute greatly to improved safety for all commuters.

I commend the introduction of 24-hour bus routes. Routes C and G are 24-hour routes that are well used by commuters in Dublin Mid-West. Route C has been in operation for about a year and route G is our brand-new route. They are used at night when we know taxis are in short supply. For that reason, 24-hour bus routes can be a real lifesaver for commuters making their way home late at night.

The current lack of taxis on our streets in Dublin has to be flagged as a safety concern and I have raised this issue before in the Chamber. Again, it is not necessarily within the remit of the Minister, but we could be encouraging more taxi drivers onto our roads by addressing waiting lists for licenses and by reducing VAT on new cars used as taxis. That would also help the 3,750 taxi drivers whose vehicles may shortly be too old to operate as taxis. Free Now is warning of an imminent taxi driver shortage, the impact of which will be felt by Christmas party goers.

Being stranded in the city centre at night time, with no sign of a taxi and no immediate way to get home, is not just annoying. It can also be scary and unsafe. There are groups, including women, who feel more vulnerable on the streets of Dublin. I highlight the experience of members of the LGBT+ community in particular. Attacks on people from this community on Dublin’s streets have been particularly shocking and upsetting. While we work on making Dublin a safe place in which to live, work and socialise, it is important that we do not leave any groups out of that vision. Under the National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy, An Garda Síochána is working to increase significantly the reporting of hate crimes by members of the LGBTI+ community. I welcome and encourage that. We need a more open relationship between the LGBT community and the Garda. I know this is being developed and I commend that. The legislation on hate crime, which is moving through the House, will be instrumental in allowing us to hold perpetrators of these kinds of crimes to account.

Dublin is a great place to live. There is no doubt the will and investment is there to make it an even greater and, crucially, a safer place to live and visit.

Deputy Martin Kenny

Many of my colleagues have touched on aspects of life in Dublin and the vibrant city that it is. Many have also expressed their pride in living in Dublin. Those of us from the country recognise that Dublin is our capital city and we are also proud of it. There is something to do and see in Dublin. The tremendous sense of community that is in many parts of the capital city was mentioned, but we all agree there is also an element of danger and antisocial behaviour, which is the core of the debate this evening.

Open drug-dealing and use has been a common sight in our city’s main thoroughfares and transport hubs. Unfortunately, people in addiction are often used by criminals in a most dangerous way. A person who works with people suffering from addiction told me that it is suicide in slow motion for many of them. If we see a person who is suicidal, we have great empathy for them and do everything to protect and help them in order to take them away from the edge of where they may be. Yet, what about when we see a person who is addicted to crack cocaine, or some other hard drug? These drugs are slowly taking their life away from them and we, as a society, have a responsibility to intervene in that regard.

There are significant problems with antisocial behaviour and violence. We must put proper resources into drug addiction and youth services, particularly in our capital city. Not only does it leave residents, workers, commuters and visitors fearful of being attacked, but this behaviour also causes reputational damage to our beautiful and historical capital city. There is a growing perception that public transport in not safe, both for passengers and staff, throughout Dublin. Much evidence has been provided in recent times by unions, on behalf of those working on trains, buses and trams, and by passengers who have been the victim of antisocial behaviour and violent criminal acts, for which there needs to be an intervention.

The negligence of the Government to resource An Garda Síochána properly to tackle these issues is a major concern we must recognise. Since 2018, we have seen a decrease in the number of gardaí deployed to the public order unit. While I accept that certain areas of Dublin have seen a small increase in Garda numbers, it simply is not keeping in line with population growth or crime figures. This is happening while a significant number of new Garda members leave the force every year. There is a clear retention and recruitment crisis in An Garda Síochána. While there was great fanfare that 10,000 people expressed an interest in joining the force, less than 200 people have gone through Templemore this year. The bottom line is that the number of gardaí on the streets is falling short.

The retention crisis has been caused by an abject failure of successive Governments to tackle the root causes of crime, antisocial behaviour, and drug use and addition seen across our city. According to the Central Statistics Office reported crime figures for the Dublin metropolitan region in the second quarter of 2021 and 2022, there was a 12.9% increase, or 819 additional reports of attempts or threats of murder, assault and harassment. This was in one 12-month period alone. That figure stands out as one of the real problems. It highlights the core of violent, drug-related crime that needs to be dealt with. The reports of theft in the Dublin metropolitan region increased by 5,572 cases in the same 12-month period.

I commend the work of An Garda Síochána throughout the capital as part of Operation Citizen and other similar operations, but gardaí are stretched to beyond their limits and additional resources need to be provided.

These operations need to be supported with ring-fenced funding to ensure they are continued for as long as is necessary. A focus is also needed on overt and covert policing methods to target criminal behaviour on the streets of Dublin.

We need a dedicated public transport police to address antisocial behaviour and criminal activity on our public transport and in transport hubs. A public transport police system has been called for by both the Opposition and backbench Members of the Government. It will be simply impossible to develop a public transport system that will replace cars on our streets if it is not safe for people. Every other country in Europe has a public transport police system, as do many across the world, and we simply have to deliver it here as well.

An Garda Síochána must be resourced adequately to increase rank-and-file numbers with a return to community policing, which is the model that has served communities well in the past. I have spoken to a number of victims of crime in recent months who also feel the sentences handed out by the courts may not fit the crime or the effect that crime has had on their lives. In order to support them, we need to move toward a judicial system that respects victims. A holistic programme of investment and measures such as these are what is required to target and deter the continued criminality communities experience in specific parts of our capital city. Government needs to put its money where its mouth is and correct the decades of underspend that has led to the issues which have seen our capital city in such disarray.

Deputy Bernard J. Durkan

It may seem odd that a country Deputy should get involved in Dublin city but, as the previous speaker has just said, it is everybody's city. We all have to take responsibility for it. We take pride in it and we reserve the right to comment when things are not as they should be. I acknowledge the point raised by Deputy Bríd Smith with regard to sporting and recreational facilities, clubs and youth clubs. An audit of what is available for young people is needed. It is not enough to say people are poor, upset and angry; people were poor in this city before and matters did not degenerate to the point where it is now.

I have spoken several times about the appearance of the city when driving across it at night when one finds people falling out of doorways, staggering across the road and falling around the place in an appalling way. They are obviously a danger to themselves and create a problem for the appearance of the city but there is a health issue as well. We need to do an audit of the facilities available and try to make sure they are made available conveniently. Some people say we should have no cars in the future. I do not agree with that. There will always be people who need cars. There will always be people who have business to do and will not get on to public transport at an approved and agreed point. They wish to do their business in their own time, go home and be independent in their own time. Every city in the world has facilities to do that but we are moving away from it altogether. That is taking away people's independence.

I have strong views as a former member of a ministerial task force. I know the argument continues as to whether it should be prohibition and police work to ensure the elimination of drugs or a health issue. It has to be both and they have to be applied with due regard for the situation presenting itself. We found that methadone was widely available and regularly used but, unfortunately, the victims were not relying on it. Methadone was only a top-up. The well-run centres ensured that if those who attended went to get a top-up somewhere else, they were not welcome at the clinics. I am strongly of the view that we have to do both. We have to do enforcement and cut off the supply.

A late former Member of this House, Tony Gregory, spent years campaigning on the drugs issue in Dublin city. Despite it being dangerous, he courageously targeted the suppliers again and again, that is, the drug barons and the guys who were able to drive along in their BMWs and have deliveries take place at all times of the day and night. He drew attention to them because he saw them as a major contributory issue to an affliction that was affecting a whole new generation in a way that it had never presented before. He was right to do so and we need to continue to do so.

We need to review policing in the city in particular to such an extent as to interrupt the delivery of packages to households and strategic corners in locations throughout the city. We need to do so deliberately. I welcome the Minister concentration on this area but we need to emphasise it. There is no use in backing away from it or saying we are casting a stigma on the city. Decadence is not nice in any shape or form. Fear is not nice, when people become afraid to walk on a particular street in a particular area at night. In my heyday, I walked every possible place there was to go in this city, as I am sure everybody else in this House did. I walked without fear and people were not richer then than they are now. We need to recognise what is slipping away.

I remember going to another city in another country, once upon a time, where all I could see in the middle of the city was graffiti all over the place. It was not a great sign or vision of the city or an indicator for those who came to visit the place. Dublin city is a shop window. Investors come to Dublin. I know many people in this House do not like investors and would prefer if they were elsewhere but the fact of the matter is we need and have always needed jobs. It is important to ensure that people who come to this city and country can rest assured they are safe to walk and travel regardless of their religion, race or colour. I remember when Salman Rushdie penned his famous The Satanic Verses. I think I was the only one who disagreed with him at the time and I said so. The book was seen as an expression of freedom of speech but I saw it as something else. I saw it as something that begged a response. It was threatening people of selected religions. Some people are very sensitive about religion. We should know about it in this country, for God's sake. Those people saw a reason for retaliation because they were sensitive about it and retaliation happened. However, nobody knocked on Salman Rushdie's door and told him he had started up something he should not have and that it was of no help.

By the same token, we have to identify the problem in every way. Incidentally, I was driving home last night when I heard somebody who rang into a radio programme to say he or she had a right to hate. What an appalling expression. Nobody has a right to hate or should ever hate. There is no reason for it. I recall the war in Rwanda, where a gentleman seized a radio station and poured out hatred for two or three years until it eventually boiled over into outright violence and 500,000 people were beheaded as a result. It is all very fine to identify something afterwards and say it was unfortunate but that happened to people. I compliment the Minister of State for dealing with the issue of the use of hate. We do not have to hate. If we wish to hate, by all means, we should look in the mirror any morning and hate away. That is my answer. The suggestion to a radio station that a person wishes to hate and wishes to be allowed to do so and say so is wrong. It gets away from the subject, undermines our society and does us damage. We can choose that if we wish to.

The old hidden one is about racism. One hears people say on a regular basis that they are not racist but they do not like people of a different colour, religion or background, vulnerable people or people with disabilities. What an appalling attitude to have in a so-called civilised society, in this enlightened time, when we have all the evidence in the world of what hatred and hate speech has done and what hatred has eventually ended up in.

One would not have to wait too long. The evidence is already there.

This is a great opportunity to concentrate on the problematic issues in and around our capital city. I do not want to stop at that. Other speakers referred to antisocial behaviour. We have that all over the country in every town and village. The threat exists in estates all over the country, where women and vulnerable people are regularly targeted in an appalling way. They are set upon and identified as being legitimate targets. We have constant reports, through our various offices, of incidents that take place daily and nightly. Older people are terrified to walk across the road. Their doors are barred and barricaded from an early hour at night because they are afraid. Fear is the other thing that we need to confront. There is no need to try to push it under the carpet or ignore it. We need to address and identify whatever causes the fear in such a way as to deal with it meaningfully. We have an opportunity to do so.

I know there are several local authorities on which this impinges, that is, in Dublin, the greater Dublin area, in the adjoining counties and all over the country. I do not accept the notion that if we had one authority in Dublin, this would all disappear. We have to co-operate with one another nationwide to deal with the issues, which have to be dealt with on an ongoing basis as they appear. We should not just have a look at them and then spend six months or six years deciding what would be best to do. We have to deal with it now.

To have the opportunity to discuss the issues this evening is important. It gives an opportunity to everybody who has a role to play, including us. We mention how politicians rise every so often and point out these things but that is not what happens at all. The public are concerned. They approach the people who they elected and expect them to do something about it, to bring it to a head and to deal with it. Let us not make excuses that we cannot upset certain people because, if we mention them, they get upset. That is tough. Many people are living in fear. Either we do something about it and respond to it or we hand it over.

Mayor Giuliani of New York famously claimed credit for zero tolerance. In fact, that was not his doing at all, but that of one of his predecessors, Mayor Koch, who dealt a fatal blow to the ganglands and big guys who were dealing all the time, enforcing, threatening and making millions out of illegal activity. He set them to one side. It was not acknowledged to any great extent, as we know often happens in politics. The fact is that he did it and it had an effect, to such an extent that you do not see anything like the same level of activity. I know there are still illegal activities in the United States but he dealt with that one. Our job is to deal with our issues in whatever way possible, to be helpful and to be supportive, but to be firm at the same time and not take excuses for things that go wrong and are seen to go wrong.

Deputy Eoin Ó Broin

I welcome the opportunity to participate in this important debate. When the public and media discussion about Dublin city hit the headlines in recent weeks, one thing that struck me was that everybody was looking for somebody to blame. The reality is that in our capital city right now, nobody is really in charge. The way in which our system of local government is set up, councils, both management and especially elected representatives, have very limited powers. Far too much continues to be centralised in Departments. A multitude of agencies are responsible for a multitude of functions. The agencies control bits of the system but not all of it. I spoke to a transport policy expert once who asked me how many transport-related agencies operated in the city of Dublin. I thought there were maybe two, three or four. The answer is 40 and the city council is just one of those. If our system of local government is such that it has very limited power, if the few powers it has are predominantly executive and held by the non-elected members who are not democratically accountable, and if we continue to over-centralise in Departments and over-rely on fragmented public agencies as well as, increasingly, private agencies, it is no wonder that the city has the reputation it has.

I am a Dubliner and I love the city. I currently live in the suburbs and I want the city to be better. There are many good things about it. We could and must do much more, whether on public transport, housing, planning, public spaces crime, or community safety. We have to deal with the fundamental underlying structural problem, which is the weakness of our local government system. It is good that the Government established the Dublin Citizens' Assembly on a directly-elected mayor and future governance of Dublin city. That is welcome. The report is imminent and I look forward to it. Sinn Féin has long argued that we need directly-elected mayors.

If we are going to convince the public to introduce directly-elected mayors, we have to tell them clearly why, what powers the mayors will have and to what end. I had the good fortune of being involved in the last attempt to consider a directly-elected mayor for Dublin. The Acting Chair, Deputy Higgins, and I were on the council when we considered that. People may remember there was a working group made up of members from the four local authorities. We discussed and debated these issues among the four councils. Each council got to have a separate vote. If all four councils voted, there would be a plebiscite and the public would decide. The difficulty is that we were having a debate in a complete vacuum. While we were being asked if we wanted a directly-elected mayor, we had no idea what the Government's proposals were. The question of whether we wanted a directly-elected mayor was posed first. We were told that the White Paper on the functions of that office would come afterwards.

I completely understand the position of Fingal County Council, which feared that the limited powers that exist in local authorities would be sucked upwards into the office of the directly-elected mayor and it would lose what few functions it has. That would be a disaster and is why its members voted against this. We then had plebiscites of three cities. People were asked to support the idea of a directly-elected mayor while having no notion of what the mayor's functions or powers would be. How can we convince the electorate, which is already sceptical of politicians in many respects, to vote for a directly-elected mayor in Cork, Waterford or Limerick if we do not tell them what the role will do? While Limerick managed to pass the referendum by the skin of its teeth, we still do not have the legislation.

It is very rare that I compliment Members from the Chair's or the last speaker's party, Fine Gael, but Deputy Phelan produced a decent White Paper talking about the significant transfer of powers away from unelected officials to elected officials. There was much merit in that. The current Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, is keen to progress that but we know he is struggling with other Departments, which do not want to devolve power downwards to a different layer of administration. There is no value in mayors unless they have real powers and real authority.

Hopefully, the Dublin Citizens' Assembly will produce a recommendation to have a directly-elected mayor, subject to a plebiscite and the approval of the people of the city before any mayoral election, because I think people have to have their say. I would like to see a small number of important functions devolved to such an office in the first place, then to have a process of rolling devolution. For example, one could decide that transport will become a function of the mayor's office. Devolved powers of the Department of Transport and unelected bodies such as the National Transport Authority would instead be in the remit of a democratically-elected mayor. The value of that would be that a mayoral election would become a contest about how one wants the future of transport in our city to be run and managed. People can get elected, have a democratic mandate and then drive an agenda of change. Their careers will depend on them delivering on that. It is the same with the public realm, planning, housing and other areas as it is with transport.

I do not want any further loss of powers from our existing local authorities. Let us strengthen our local authorities, devolve powers to a directly-elected mayor and in all of the myriad issues we have discussed in this debate, let us put somebody in charge and give that person the power, authority, budgets and staff to drive a change agenda for our capital city.

Transport worked as a key issue for London and we could do the same here in Dublin. We would then start to see a much improved city for the people who live and work here and those who travel here. We would all be the better for it.

Dáil Éireann debate - Thursday, 17 Nov 2022

Dublin City Safety Initiatives and Other Services: Statements

Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 17 Nov 2022