Pádraig O'Sullivan
Question:53. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Justice the initiatives that are being pursued to ensure public order and safety on the streets; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55094/23]
View answerTuesday, 12 December 2023
Questions (53)
Written answers
My thoughts remain with the young children and their crèche worker who were so viciously assaulted almost two weeks ago. The children, their carer, their families, friends and those who are caring for them must remain at the forefront of our thoughts.
The rioting and violent disorder we saw in Dublin was a disgrace and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms. I want to commend all Garda members for their quick and effective response in restoring order to the city.
In light of the riots, the Garda Senior Management Team has agreed on a range of measures to further support front-line Gardaí, including tooling all Gardaí with stronger incapacitant spray, expansion of the dog unit, increasing public order training, more tasers for public order policing, and provision of hand-held video cameras for public order units, among other measures.
I am pleased to say that the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill passed all remaining stages in the Dáil and has been signed into law by the President. The Act provides for body worn cameras, Garda CCTV, automatic number plate recognition, and Community CCTV. The crucial introduction of body-worn cameras is being accelerated through a separate proof of concept (POC) project involving the deployment next year of body-worn cameras in Dublin city centre.
I also intend to bring the general scheme of the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill to Government in the coming weeks. This will empower Gardaí to use facial recognition technology in appropriate and limited circumstances to assist in identifying offenders in respect of serious violent offences. My intention is to include the offences of riot and violent disorder among the offences for which this technology may be used. It is a manifest waste of resources to have Gardaí manually reviewing thousands of hours of CCTV footage after an incident, delaying the arrest and prosecution of those responsible.
We have also introduced tough new sentences, including doubling the maximum sentence for assault causing harm to 10 years. We have also increased the sentence for conspiracy to murder from 10 years to life, and the sentence for assaulting a Garda or emergency worker from 7 to 12 years.