Statement by Minister of State James Browne on public order and safe streets

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Cathaoirleach, Senators.

Thank you for the opportunity to address the House on this matter today.

Everyone has the right to be safe, and importantly to feel safe in our communities.

That principle is central to my department’s mission of a safe, fair and inclusive Ireland.

It is also central to our Community Safety policy and the provisions of new legislation, such as the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill.

It is important that we do not, however, attempt to address all of the complex underlying factors of crime and anti-social behaviour with a policing response alone.

The most effective way we can improve community safety over the longer term is through the empowerment of local communities, combined with support from the State.

Similar to other police services, much of the work of the Gardaí on a daily basis is concerned with non-crime related activity and prevention of harm to some of the most vulnerable in society.

Garda members are not always the best placed to offer support in these incidents, which may require interventions from health care professionals or other specialised services.

Whilst community policing is the foundation that allows people to go about their daily lives in safety and comfort, it is understood that police services cannot tackle all of the causes of crime or anti-social behaviour alone.

Improving community safety requires all sectors to work together with strong agency collaboration across State agencies and engagement from the community.

This is the focus of the Community Safety policy, to use evidence based approaches to tackle the root causes of these issues and to address them locally.

As many of the members of the House may be aware, Minister McEntee launched three pilot Local Community Safety Partnerships in late 2020. The pilots are currently running in Longford, Waterford and Dublin’s North Inner City.

The Community Safety Partnerships will provide a forum for State agencies and local community representatives to work together with the aim of addressing community concerns.

I firmly believe that local knowledge of the issues that a community faces is vital to addressing the problems at the source. No one knows the problems and understands the potential solutions better than those living and working in the local community.

The Partnerships will build on the past, on the structures of the Joint Policing Committees, in order to develop and deliver a modern fit-for-purpose forum for the future.

As recommended by the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland, responsibility for community safety does not rest solely with An Garda Síochána, nor my department, alone.

It is a whole of government responsibility.

State services must act in harmony with each other and the community, in order to improve safety. The Partnerships will enable the community to hold these services to account.

We know that we will encounter challenges, particularly in these early days, and not everything that is trialled in the pilot Partnerships will work.

As with all pilot schemes, we will learn and grow from these first iterations. These learnings will inform future Partnerships and Community Safety Plans across the State.

And they will leave safer communities for all of us to enjoy.

I am of course acutely aware of the effect that crime and anti-social behaviour can have on the quality of life for all communities.

An Garda Síochána will always be there to respond to local concerns, and high visibility policing is one of the key elements to ensuring our communities feel safe and are safe.

But the most effective way we can improve community safety over the longer term is through the empowerment of local communities, combined with support from the State.

I have mentioned the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill and wish to expand upon this landmark piece of legislation.

The Bill represents an important new departure in policing, repealing and replacing the Garda Síochána Act 2005. The Bill will support the human rights of all people throughout Ireland to be safe and to feel safe in their communities.

When enacted, the Bill will strengthen the independent, external oversight of An Garda Síochána and will place the Partnerships on a statutory footing which will enable their rollout to every local authority area in the State.

Whilst we can all agree that An Garda Síochána’s role as the national police service is vital to ensuring community safety, I want to ensure that the public retains the trust and confidence in our Gardaí that has been built up over the first one hundred years since its establishment.

I believe that strong external oversight of the policing service will ensure this confidence is maintained.

The importance of the role of the Policing Authority has been clearly demonstrated, including through its recent enquires into the handling of 999 calls.

The new Policing and Community Safety Authority established by the Bill will be empowered to undertake similar oversight and investigation with an added ‘in-house’ inspection capacity. This stronger independent external oversight of An Garda Síochána, as part of a package of measures to ensure that the governance and oversight framework for policing is coherent, will support clear and effective accountability and ultimately better policing for our communities.

It is also important to note that, generally, Ireland is a safe country. Our crime rates are comparatively low. There is, of course, room to improve.

The factors underlying the incidence of crime are the subject of ongoing academic and expert research, and my department engages with the research community to monitor trends and emerging evidence.

The Garda Commissioner regularly monitors crime trends, and puts in place operational measures such as Operation Thor and Operation Citizen to tackle specific issues.

Operation Citizen aims to reassure the public that our capital is a safe place to live and work, through high-visibility patrolling and community engagement.

Operation Citizen achieves these aims through increased patrols of the city centre, including 100 Garda members patrolling each weekend evening.

These increased patrols are supported by members from the Garda Public Order Unit and other specialist units, assigned specifically to the city centre.

Operation Citizen is not an isolated response. It works in tandem with a number of different operations currently ongoing in the city centre area.

These include Operation Saul, which aims to provide a safe environment for commuters travelling in the Dublin Metropolitan Region, and Operation Spire, which tackles on-street drug dealing and anti-social behaviour in the O'Connell Street area.

To further support Operation Citizen, a property located at 13A Upper O’Connell Street is currently being redeveloped as a Garda Station to enhance the high visibility policing service in Dublin City Centre.

The new station will have a public office for members of the public to seek support and report crimes, and to provide support to victims of crime.

It will serve as hub in which on duty Gardaí can report to directly without the need to return to their designated station, as well as being the parade location for Operation Citizen.

In advance of the completion of refurbishment works for the new Garda Station, I am advised by the Garda Commissioner that a high-visibility Garda Command Vehicle has been placed on O’Connell Street. The efforts of An Garda Síochána, which my department fully supports, are having an effect.

Since Operation Citizen commenced last year, over seven thousand arrests have been made, and over €6 million in suspected illegal drugs has been seized.

In addition, I am pleased to note that In October 2022, Dublin city centre was awarded ‘Purple Flag’ status.

This award, which is an international accreditation, recognises Dublin’s excellence in its management of the night time economy. Dublin is one of 40 Cities throughout Europe that has attained the purple flag status. Among the criteria considered in granting this award are crime rates and the willingness of persons to go into city centres after dark.

I can assure you that this is among the continuing work and ongoing engagement with stakeholders all aimed at improving safety and the feeling of being safe.

There are also opportunities to look forward to the future, to decide on the kind of society and country we wish to not only live in now and in the coming decades, but the kind of country we wish to leave to our children and to the future generations who follow.

For example, the Community Safety Innovation Fund, reflects the success of An Garda Síochána and the Criminal Assets Bureau in seizing the proceeds of crime by funding projects communities themselves know will help in improving their safety. I was delighted to secure an increase in Budget 2023 to the Fund, from €2 million to €3 million and it is my hope that the fund will continue to grow over the coming years.

This is just one of the supports and funding streams available from my department.

I thank the Chair and the members of the House for the time to speak to this matter today.

Policing is just one facet of community safety, as Minister McEntee has said. I can assure the members of this House, and the public, that the government is committed to ensuring that An Garda Síochána has the resources it needs.

Budget 2023 provides for in excess of €2.14 billion in funding to the Garda organisation. This will allow for investment in the service’s fleet, accommodation and ICT. And most importantly in the Garda organisation’s most vital asset – its people.

The Budget provides for the recruitment of up to an additional 1,000 Garda members and 400 Garda Staff.

Coupled with the rollout of the Operating Model with its focus on Community Engagement, and further reassignments of members to frontline duties through civilianisation - where their skills and experience can be best utilised- I am confident they will have the resources to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.

I am confident that An Garda Síochána will continue to keep our communities safe for all.

Since the reopening of the Garda College in 2014, over 4,000 new Garda members have attested and have been assigned to stations across the country.

More than double the number of applications were received earlier this year than in the previous Garda recruitment competition in 2019, and I was delighted to see increased numbers of applications from women and new communities.

The police service should be representative of the public it serves and An Garda Síochána is open to all.

The Commissioner has indicated his intention to intake 200 recruits to the College every three months in 2023.

To ensure an adequate pipeline of new entrants, the Commissioner has also informed the Minister and me that he intends to announce a new recruitment campaign in early 2023. I would urge anyone with an interest in a career in An Garda Síochána to apply to this process.

Recruitment of almost 1,800 additional Garda Staff in recent years has increased civilianisation and supported the reassignment of Gardaí to frontline policing duties, where their skills, training and policing expertise can be fully utilised.

This reassignment has meant that, as of the end of October, over 870 Garda members have been reassigned to operational roles and their previous roles taken on by Garda Staff.

The roll-out of a new Operating Model for An Garda Síochána across all 19 Divisions is continuing.

The new Operating Model is designed to streamline Garda administration and to provide a more visible, responsive and localised policing service to communities nationwide.

Over 10,000 mobile devices have been rolled out so far, enabling front-line Gardaí to perform their duties without returning to stations and keeping more Gardaí visible on the streets.

These initiatives and more will deliver on the objective of maintaining high-visibility policing in our communities.

The Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill will provide that prevention of harm will be a specific statutory objective of An Garda Síochána, recognising the vital work Gardaí do on the ground every day in communities around the country.

However, preventing crime does not just mean putting extra Gardaí on the beat.

Supporting community-based initiatives with the Community Safety Innovation Fund, and utilising technologies such as Community Text Alert Groups and property marking, can also act as an effective deterrent.

Just as crucially, diverting people from criminality by affording opportunity is key. That is why I believe that locally targeted, evidence-based, interventions are the most effective tools for improving community safety.

Justice Plan 2022 further progresses my department’s commitment to working with public sector colleagues, Non-Governmental Organisations and wider society to deliver safer communities for everyone.

I aim to continue this focus through Justice Plan 2023, and the ongoing implementation of the Youth Justice Strategy.

As Minister of State, I see every day the hard work undertaken by our Gardaí, the voluntary sector, community groups and dedicated civil and public servants towards that goal.

I want to see safe communities for our children to play in.

I want to see safe communities with communal spaces we can all enjoy, whether we live in, work in or are just visiting a town, city or rural area.

And by working in collaboration with the community, we can deliver on these goals.

Thank you Cathaoirleach.