Finian McGrath
Question:274 Mr. F. McGrath asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his plans to deal with anti-social behaviour across the north side of Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32383/04]
View answerTuesday, 7 December 2004
Questions (248)
Written answers
I assure the Deputy that strong provisions have been put in place to combat the causes of public disorder and anti-social behaviour, not only on the north side of Dublin, but throughout the country. Reductions in violence and public order offences have followed the enactment in 2003 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 2003 and the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2003, which give significant additional powers to the Garda to deal with public order and street crime. I particularly welcome the reduction in the number of assaults causing harm in the third quarter of 2004, by 2% since the third quarter of 2003.
The Intoxicating Liquor Act 2000 strengthened the provisions which existed in the Intoxicating Liquor Act 1988 relating to the supply or sale of intoxicating liquor to under age persons. It increased fines for breaches of the law on under age drinking. Serious penalties, including the temporary closure of a licensed premises, can result if a licensee is convicted of selling intoxicating liquor to an under age person. The Garda can target a range of premises in which customers cause trouble. After warning the owner, the Garda can apply for a closure order. Convicted trouble makers can be served with exclusion orders prohibiting them from entering or being near specified premises. The law relating to conduct on licensed premises has been updated and made easier to enforce. Premises can be temporarily closed for supplying alcohol to persons who are drunk, for permitting drunkenness and for failing to preserve order.
The administration of the national age cards scheme by the Garda has facilitated the force, in co-operation with the licensed trade, in addressing and combating under age drinking. The age card scheme allows those who have reached the age of 18 to apply for an age card at a local Garda station to confirm that they have attained the legal age for purchasing intoxicating liquor. The Garda monitors the scheme continuously to ensure that it takes account of changing circumstances.
Garda youth diversion projects are part of a community-based, multi-agency crime prevention initiative which seeks to divert young persons from becoming involved, or further involved, in anti-social or criminal behaviour by providing suitable activities to facilitate personal development, promote civic responsibility and improve long-term employability prospects. The projects contribute to improving the quality of life within communities and enhancing relations between the Garda and communities. I am committed to the continuing development of the projects, as well as their expansion, as resources permit. The number of projects has grown from 12 in 1997 to 64 at present, a process made possible in part by funding under the national development plan. The locations of the new projects were decided by the Garda authorities in conjunction with the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. While legislative measures and initiatives such as the age card scheme help to curtail anti-social behaviour and under age drinking, they cannot be viewed as the only solution. All parties with an interest need to play a role in helping to address anti-social behaviour, with particular regard to young people.
The Garda authorities responded to public order problems with a public order initiative called Operation Encounter, which came into operation in February 2002. The initiative is focused on all public order issues in the community. Recent figures show that 179,815 crimes have been detected since its inception. Uniformed and plain clothes mobile units conduct regular patrols in areas considered by the Garda to be susceptible to anti-social behaviour. The Garda is aware of the problems associated with the anti-social behaviour experienced by certain communities, some of which have been assigned dedicated community gardaí. The community gardaí meet local residents regularly to offer advice and to try to address difficulties being experienced by them. The mountain bike unit provides high visibility in areas of high population density. Patrols are further augmented by the divisional crime task force, detective units, special resource units and, in particular, traffic units.
I am pleased that the Government has approved my proposal to increase the strength of the Garda Síochána to 14,000 members on a phased basis, honouring the commitment in An Agreed Programme for Government. The implementation of this key commitment will significantly strengthen the force's operational capacity. The Garda Commissioner will draw up plans on how best to distribute and manage the resources. It is clear that additional resources will be targeted at areas of greatest need, as envisaged in the programme for Government, which refers to such areas as being those with a significant drugs problem and a large number of public order offences. It will be possible to address other priorities, such as the need to increase significantly the number of gardaí allocated to traffic law enforcement. I have promised that the extra gardaí will not be allocated administrative duties, but will be involved directly in front-line, operational and high visibility policing. There will be an intake of almost 1,100 new recruits in each of the next three years. The advertising campaign for the first tranche of 1,100 recruits was launched on Thursday 25 November 2004.
Question No. 275 answered with QuestionNo. 260.