Peadar Tóibín
Question:85. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice what steps her Department is undertaking to reduce violent crime in the State. [33728/23]
View answerTuesday, 11 July 2023
Questions (85)
Written answers
Tackling violent crime is a priority for the Government, for my Department and for An Garda Síochána. Everyone has a right to feel safe and be safe in their homes and in their locality and I am committed to ensuring that is the case nationwide.
The Government is committed to ensuring that An Garda Síochána have the resources they need to achieve this. In 2023, over 2 Billion is being invested into An Garda Síochána.
Three innovative Local Community Safety Partnerships are currently being piloted in Dublin's North Inner City, Waterford City and Longford. These are designed to identify and prioritise the issues causing communities to feel unsafe and to address them collaboratively. The development of a Community Safety Plan in each of these areas will ensure that local communities can prioritise those measures which will have the greatest impact in their area. This is supported by the Community Safety Innovation – a fund established by ring-fencing the proceeds of crime and reinvesting back into community safety initiatives.
The Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022 will bring forward an increase in the maximum penalty available for the offence of assault causing harm from 5 years’ to 10 years’ imprisonment. This will provide the Courts with a more appropriate range of sentences to take account of the range and gravity of the assaults that fall under this offence category. This legislation will also increase the maximum sentence for conspiracy to murder from 10 years to life imprisonment. This will be a key measure which will ensure that those individuals who direct organised crime can be held fully accountable for their actions.
In addition, body worn cameras are vital in terms of protection of Gardaí and for evidence of the nature of assaults and incidents that they are facing. The legal basis for body worn cameras will be provided for through The Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022. Following a Government decision, my Department will draft the general scheme of the Garda Síochána (Digital Management and Facial Recognition Technology) Bill, which will provide that facial recognition technology can be used by the Gardaí to tackle some of the most heinous crimes, including murder, assault causing serious crime, robbery and burglary.
The Anti-Social Behaviour Forum, chaired by Minister of State James Browne, is focused on developing measures to address the factors which give rise to ASB and its impact on community morale and quality of life. Three subgroups of the Forum have been established to consider the specific issues of knife crime, the misuse of scramblers and quadbikes, and responses to Anti-Social Behaviour impacts on housing complexes managed by Approved Housing Bodies (AHBs).
The Anti-Social Behaviour Forum will also carry out a review of the powers available to An Garda Síochána in relation to public order and anti-social behaviour, to include the effectiveness of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders.
For the Deputy's information, An Garda Síochána runs a number of initiatives aimed at improving community safety and reducing assaults. These include:
• Crime Prevention Officers across the country who are available to offer safety advice and answer concerns from various members of the community, including young people, at community engagement events, such as the recent National Community Engagement Week.
• Operation Soteria - the national operation that has the aim of preventing assaults occurring, through targeted, timely patrols and engaging with community partners to promote personal safety. This initiative continues and has raised awareness of the consequences of assaults on victims, their families and convicted persons.
• 'Use Your Brain, Not Your Fists' - awareness raising campaign that aims to reduce the number of assaults carried out by males between 18 and 39 years of age. It appeals to young males to think of the consequences for themselves and others of being involved in assaults.
• Operation Limmat is the Dublin Metropolitan Region’s (DMR) assault in public and public order reduction strategy. Operation Limmat promotes a pro-arrest and early-investigation approach to incidents of assault, together with driving high-visibility policing in public places to act as a deterrent to prevent and reduce assaults and public order offences in the DMR.
Let me also say that any attacks on members of An Garda Síochána and other frontline services are totally unacceptable. It is my intention to increase the maximum penalty available for assaulting a peace officer to 12 years through an amendment to the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022.