Check Against Delivery

Topical Issues Debate 28 January 2015

Pat Rabbitte TD

Opening Remarks by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances Fitzgerald TD

I wish to thank the Deputy for raising this matter for debate. I have a deep appreciation from my own role as a public representative of the concerns which I know are felt in the community about these issues. I can assure him that these concerns are prominent in my mind in my work as Minister.

Insofar as the specific local circumstances cited by the Deputy are concerned, I will raise these with the Garda Commissioner and contact the Deputy again when I have a detailed assessment of the particular instances he has highlighted. I would be happy to meet with the Deputy to discuss these issues further when I have that assessment, if that would be helpful.

In general terms I can assure him that I am in ongoing contact with the Commissioner in relation to the overall response to these problems. A key priority for An Garda Síochána is to tackle public disorder and anti-social behaviour by working with communities to reduce this type of behaviour and to enhance community safety. This approach includes a strong focus on quality of life issues and collaboration with local authorities to help address the causes of anti-social behaviour. We are backing this up with a range of multifaceted measures.

Providing resources to the Gardaí so that they can have a credible and visible presence in all of our communities is central to this. As the Deputy is of course aware, the recent increase of €40 million in the Budget for Garda pay in 2015 has provided the scope for me to continue with my priority objective of recruiting new Gardaí. The first such intake of Garda Trainees since 2009 to the Garda College took place last year with 100 commencing training in September with similar intakes in December and again next week. While the deployment of these resources is a matter for the Commissioner, we are providing her with the capacity for the first time in years to be able to assign new recruits to meet policing needs in the community.

It is also the case that the comprehensive package of Budget increases for the Justice Sector announced in November includes €10m to support the purchase, and fit-out, of 370 new Garda vehicles. There will be a particular focus on an increased provision of marked Garda vehicles to provide an enhanced visible policing presence in all communities. This is precisely what communities are calling out for.

A wide range of powers are available to An Garda Síochána to deal with offences associated with anti-social behaviour including juvenile and adult cautions, fixed charge penalty notices, and the bringing of prosecutions. There are also provisions under the Criminal Justice Act 2006 for civil proceedings in relation to anti-social behaviour by adults, and specific provisions also dealing with anti-social behaviour by children. These provisions set out an incremental procedure for addressing anti-social behaviour. In engaging with the Commissioner on the issues the Deputy has raised I will also seek her views on how these provisions are working, and whether she considers that there are further legislative options we should consider.

We are also continuing to invest heavily in Garda youth diversion programmes. These projects are community based multi-agency crime prevention initiatives which primarily seek to divert young people who have become involved in anti-social behaviour. 100 of these programmes are in place nationally, including out of Tallaght Youth Service in the Deputy’s constituency. The total Estimates allocation for these programmes in 2015 is €11.617 m and I am also pleased to say that a further €2m will be available in 2015 from Dormant Accounts funding for these programmes. The overall investment in all Youth Justice Service Community Programmes, including Young Persons Probation Community Projects for 2015 will be nearly €20m.

Effective local collaboration between the relevant state agencies and the community is certainly essential. In this regard I wish to acknowledge the important role of Joint Policing Committees and Local Policing Fora in addressing specific local issues of anti-social behaviour through facilitating inter-agency working between both Local Authorities and An Garda Síochána, and with the benefit of active engagement with community representatives. Both Deputy Rabbitte and I, prior to being appointed to Government in 2011, had both served as Oireachtas representatives on the South Dublin Joint Policing Committee. That Committee offers some positives examples of JPC’s adopting a proactive approach to tackle concerns relating to anti-social behaviour, and I would cite work done to introduce bye laws in 2011 to clarify and strengthen the capacity of An Garda Síochána to seize and remove scrambler bikes, quads and other vehicles from parks and opens spaces as an example of this. More recently the South Dublin Joint Policing Committee played a crucial role in the development of a targeted Garda campaign to respond to problems of intimidation locally. I cite these only as particular evidence of the contribution which can be made by working together in these fora. I know there are many other good examples nationally and I believe these fora have huge further potential to get to the root of the issues the Deputy is raising.

The Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 was enacted in July and the majority of Parts 1, 4 and 5 have already been brought into operation. As indicated in the Social Housing Strategy 2020, The Minister for Environment, Communities and Local Government intends, in the first quarter of this year to commence Part 2 of the Act, which includes for the strengthening of the powers of housing authorities to obtain court orders to exclude persons engaged in anti-social behaviour from local authority accommodation and estates.

I will conclude on this note, and thank the Deputy again for raising this important issue. As I have said I am happy to sit down to discuss these issues further with him, with the benefit of an assessment from An Garda Síochána of the particular circumstances he has raised.

ENDS