asked the Minister for Labour if his statement made on 11 September regarding crime and vandalism in the Dublin area and the Garda response to it represents Government policy; if in view of social problems in the Dublin inner city area, he has any proposals to improve the job opportunities of young people in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Dublin Crime and Vandalism.
10.
Questions relating to crime and vandalism are matters for the Minister for Justice who has responsibility for the implementation of Government policy in this regard.
The statement to which the Deputy refers was made by me in a personal capacity as a TD for the area. In order to give disadvantaged young people in general improved skills to avail themselves of job opportunities, my colleague, the Minister for Education, and I announced two weeks ago Youthreach, a new programme of education, training and work experience taking up to two years. It will be targeted on inner city areas in particular. I am confident that this initiative will be of real benefit to young people in the area.
I would like to take this opportunity to commend the ongoing role of social workers and other concerned groups in combating the negative results of these social problems. I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge, in particular, the recent initiatives taken by the Garda to have the various interests, public and private, lay and religious, involved in discussions to see what can be done to assist the significant number of children who are seriously at risk in the Dublin Inner city area.
I am mystified as to how the Minister can, on the one hand, act as Minister and on the other hand in his capacity as the local TD. It must be some trick. He should let me in on it sometime. I was quite surprised when I read the speech. Would the Minister not agree that his approach to the problems of crime and vandalism in that area, indeed in any part of urban Ireland, was rather superficial? The running down of the junior liaison scheme which the gardaí operate but now cannot operate at weekends due to the refusal to allow them to work overtime, has restricted the efforts of the gardaí. There is a very clear link between social deprivation and high crime rates.
I have no difficulty in speaking in my constituency on major issues and what I say as Minister for Labour. I am not responsible for the functions of the Department of Justice but I am responsible for some of the events which happen in my own constituency. I always hold the right to speak out on those matters when I see it as necessary and when my constituents demand me to do so. There is a direct link in some areas between social deprivation and the crime figures but there are other difficulties. It is not always those who are socially deprived who are the ringleaders.
I am not suggesting, as I am sure the Minister will realise, that the socially deprived per se are involved in crime. Surely he will accept that as a Minister in the Government he bears collective responsibility for the cutbacks in the various areas of education, Garda operations and——
We are dealing now with questions to the Minister for Labour within his responsibility.
The Minister was speaking about events which happened in his own constituency.
The matter to which the Deputy refers are not the responsibility of the Minister in the House at the present time.
The Minister made that speech.
Could I ask the Minister for Labour if when he commended the gardaí and the social workers and various other people, as he did in his recent reply, he was speaking personally as a Deputy for the constituency or as Minister?
Both.Mr. Birmingham: As all those things. Would the Minister agree that it was a curious departure from normal Cabinet practice that a Minister should criticise a Force who are the responsibility of a Cabinet colleague?
We are now getting into another area altogether.