Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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13. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she will commission a Mulvey-style report in relation to gangland activity in Dublin 15 and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26492/24]

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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I ask the Minister for Justice if she will commission a Mulvey-style report in relation to gangland activity in Dublin 15 and if she will make a statement on the matter.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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First, I assure the Deputy, as he has probably heard, that tackling serious and organised crime is a priority for me and An Garda Síochána. I am committed to ensuring that communities right across the country have the resources and supports that they need, and most importantly people are safe and feel safe.

While it is welcome that serious attacks involving firearms have fallen substantially over the last number of years, as have serious types of incidents, I am acutely aware of certain incidents that have happened in recent times and the devastating impact of such incidents on the entire community. The implications they can have are far-reaching and I am determined to address these matters. A number of measures have been taken in particular to tackle organised crime. These include increasing the maximum sentence for conspiracy to murder from ten years to life in prison. This relates to those who do not pull the trigger but who make the decision at the very top and who so often evade any form of justice. They are being taken into that space.

There are new laws to criminalise the grooming of children. As I have just mentioned, this is so we can identify and acknowledge the harm that is caused to young people when they are brought into a life of crime. We are rolling out support programmes to break the link between gangs and the children they try to recruit, and the Greentown project is an example. We are introducing facial recognition technology to help investigate and prosecute cases of serious crime. Again, we are strengthening CAB’s ability to target the proceeds of crime, to speed up the process and to stop criminals from delaying the process.

I fully recognise the need to support and strengthen our communities to address the root cause of violence and I think that is where Deputy Paul Donnelly is coming from with the type of report he is proposing. We are now trying to move away from having individual reports for areas, because the community partnerships will now take over that role. So much of the work that was done by the Drogheda Implementation Board, Cherry Orchard report, and the Mulvey report looks at what the community needs as a whole, and not just at the work of An Garda Síochána. The plans that have been developed from those various different reviews or groups are very much in line with what the partnerships are and what they will be. The community's safety plan is designed to address public safety issues, bringing together the relevant agencies and An Garda Síochána working with local authorities, local representatives, young people, communities and all the partnerships to make sure that a specific time can be put in place.

Specifically in the Deputy’s own area of Dublin 15, community partnerships will be rolled out. They will be in line with and parallel to the three youth diversion projects that are already working across this area. There is approximately €900,000 in funding from my Department under the youth justice strategy. It is really important that they are coherent and that they work in collaboration with each other to try to address the root cause of some of the challenges that are being faced.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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I could not agree more with the Minister about what needs to be done in the long term in relation to this. Yet, unfortunately, at the moment, they do not have the resources. That covers every aspect of community activity. I have lived in Dublin 15 for the past 30 years and I have seen criminal gangs come and go. Unfortunately, we are in another age and era where there is a cycle of brutal violence going on in Dublin 15. We saw it at Christmas when there was a double murder on Christmas Eve, when people were sitting down to enjoy a Christmas Eve meal. Since then, more than a dozen houses have been burned, and were burned to the ground in some cases. Other people have been forced to leave because of threats and intimidation. That is continuing and ongoing to this day. Many of the attacks are being carried out by very young teenagers. They have been groomed over the past couple of years by this criminal gang. We need to break the cycle, but we need to have that proper investment in our communities. We need early intervention and we need youth and drug services to be properly resourced. I will give the example of Genesis counselling service. I think it was last year that I asked for extra resources for it. It cannot deal with the number of people who are looking for those resources. We need that support, but we need it now. We cannot wait for the partnerships. We need it now.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy. It is important to say that work is ongoing but I appreciate that more needs to be done. If you look at the activity of An Garda Síochána - obviously there is a limited amount of information that can be provided - so far this year, between January and May, drugs valued in excess of €12 million were seized in that region. There were 106 seizures of firearms and ammunition. That is a high number, so it is in itself quite frightening that number of seizures has taken place. Yet, it shows that An Garda Síochána is active, engaged, on the ground and trying to do what it can. As I have outlined, funding has been provided for three different youth diversion projects.

The Minister of State has been developing, progressing, expanding and securing significant additional funding for the youth diversion programmes to make sure we do not just have them in every area but the areas that need more targeted intervention, in particular focusing on younger people. Unfortunately, we are seeing more and more younger people getting involved in crime and this type of, one cannot even call it, antisocial behaviour; it is criminal activity. We need to make sure we get to the root cause, which is where the partnership will be important. In the interim, I will do everything I can to get more gardaí into every area possible. I have no doubt, with the challenges the Deputy raised, that come the next Templemore graduation, there will be more gardaí in the area.

Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein)
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I appreciate the Minister's answer but we need those gardaí now. I met the superintendent recently and we had good discussions. I am hopeful that in the future there will be a refocus on community gardaí and getting gardaí back on the ground talking to young people, engaging with communities and residents' associations, which we have not had for a good number of years. We had a brilliant community policing section that was decimated during the austerity years. We have some fantastic gardaí. I will mention one garda, Rory Carey, who is a fantastic community garda sergeant doing his absolute best but they are under serious pressure. They do not have the resources to do what they want. I am hopeful for the new influx from Templemore but, unfortunately, as a community in Dublin 15 now, we are under serious pressure from these people. First, we need that influx of gardaí now to deal with what is happening on the ground. We need early intervention and all of those resources to deal with the future. A two-pronged approach is needed - community safety as we speak, and dealing with it into the future so that we do not have to deal with this constantly.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I too commend the gardaí in the Deputy's area. I met them and appreciate, like in a lot of areas, that they are under pressure. They are doing everything they can in the interim, as we focus on getting more gardaí. There has been significant investment in resources to support gardaí in their work, whether that is more vehicles, more technology or ways to reduce the workload for gardaí working there. That is an absolute priority for me. To the Deputy's point, it is about making sure we use the resources we have now to deal with problems but to also look beyond that at how we can tackle the root causes and invest in the community. I have to go back to the partnership, which is why this is so important. It is not just about the crime element; it is about looking at the resources, educational facilities and provisions for young people, and what is there other than getting into a life of crime for them and how the community itself can put that plan in place based on what it needs. The Deputy may not have heard my intervention with Deputy Stanton earlier. I hope these partnerships will be up and running just beyond the summer. The sooner they are up and running, the quicker our plan for the Deputy's area can be put in place.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I will take Question No. 8, from Deputy Aindrias Moynihan, and then, regardless of who comes in, I will go straight to Deputy Durkan.