Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 October 2022
66. Deputy Kieran O'Donnell asked the Minister for Justice if she will carry out a review in respect of the current measures available and their effectiveness in dealing with, addressing and reducing anti-social behaviour. [52411/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI would like to begin by making one thing clear, anyone who engages in anti-social behaviour will face the full rigours of the law and we will not leave any community in fear or danger. The Programme for Government commits to tackling anti-social behaviour by ensuring more visible community policing, in line with the Report of the Future of Policing. This will significantly reduce antisocial behaviour and help make people feel safer in their communities.
We will always support communities, and honest, hard-working people who want and deserve to be safe on their streets. We will never allow anti-social behaviour from a small minority terrorise any community. Communities who need our help will get it.
The government is rolling out a number of policy and legislative initiates which will reduce the level of anti-social behaviour. These include:
- Providing the Gardaí with new powers to seize and stop the illegal use of scrambler bikes
- Introducing legislation to provide for body worn cameras for Gardaí and community CCTV schemes
- Rolling out the Community Safety Innovation fund to drive the development of community safety projects at a local level
- Examining the use of anti-social behaviour orders to ensure they are as effective as possible.
- Introducing legislation to criminalise the grooming of children
In addition, and in line with a Programme for Government commitment, Minister Browne established an Expert Forum on Anti-Social Behaviour in 2020 which is considering the effectiveness of existing legislation and will, if appropriate, propose new ways forward, including new powers for An Garda Síochána and additional interventions to support parenting of offenders.
Along side the work of the Forum, an additional allocation of €6.7m was provided in Budget 2022 and another €2.5m in 2023 to ensure the delivery of key objectives in the Youth Justice Strategy, 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.
My Department is continually seeking to strengthen our evidence based approach to combatting anti-social behaviour, as is the entire Government. Supporting communities to be safe and feel safe requires a whole of government approach and that is why the Local Community Safety Partnerships are currently being piloted across three locations, bringing local communities together with all of the key service providers in their area to identify the particular issues that need to be tackled in their local area and drawing up a plan to set out the steps that will be taken to address them, by whom and when. Listening, implementing, assessing and where necessary, adapting our policies is a key part of how the Department and the other Justice agencies are working to tackle anti-social behaviour.
I want to commend the members of An Garda Síochána who every day face the challenges of dealing with crime in the post-pandemic landscape. Just last month, Minister Browne and I met with the Garda Commissioner to discuss a number of issues, including anti-social behaviour. The Commissioner fully agrees that high-visibility policing is a crucial element of ensuring that communities are safe and feel safe.
This will be prioritised by supporting and enhancing ongoing Garda operations, such as Operation Citizen, which provides a visible presence in the city centre, and Operation Tombola, which tackles anti-social behaviour over the Halloween period.
But I know the Deputy will agree that a multi-agency approach is critical to tackling anti-social behaviour, as has been seen following the events in Cherry Orchard last month. I am particularly pleased by the innovative projects that my Department is supporting through the Community Safety Innovation Fund announced last Monday. This and other innovative, cross-cutting projects form a key part of the Government's response to anti-social behaviour.
There are also numerous other Garda operations taking place across the country, and the Government is committed to ensuring that An Garda Síochána has the resources it needs to combat anti-social behavior. An unprecedented allocation of over €2.14 billion has been provided to An Garda Síochána in Budget 2023.
