Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 April 2026
851. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the actions he is taking to prevent anti-social behaviour in Dublin city centre; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30447/26]
View answerThe Government is committed to the principle that everyone, wherever they live in Ireland, should feel safe and be safe. Building safe and secure communities across the country by investing in An Garda Síochána is a top priority for this Government. I want every part of the country to be a safe space for people to live and work in. I have prioritised and secured a record investment in Budget 2026 of €2.74 billion for An Garda Síochána.
Anti-social behaviour is a broad term often used to describe a range of actions and behaviours that violate social norms in specific contexts. I am conscious of the very damaging impact it can have in our communities.
Along with increased Garda recruitment and resources, the Government is taking a range of targeted and integrated measures to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour generally. These include:
• Introducing Community Safety Partnerships around the country, to develop Community Safety Plans for every area.
• Continued expansion of youth justice and youth diversion measures to reduce youth offending and improve safety for everyone in the community. The budget allocation for Youth Justice measures has increased by 144% from 2020 to 2026 with a significant allocation of €7.3 million in additional core exchequer funding for Youth Justice measures announced as part of Budget 2026.
• Strengthening the laws around Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) to enable swifter action by Gardaí in such cases.
• The national roll out and deployment of body-worn cameras for Gardaí.
Local Community Safety Partnerships (LCSPs) will bring together a broad range of relevant stakeholders including local councillors, An Garda Síochána, local residents, community representatives, business and education representatives, and a range of statutory agencies including the HSE, Tusla and each local authority.
Each newly established LCSP will be required to develop and implement its own tailored community safety plan. The Partnerships will take a strategic approach to their work so that issues arising can be dealt with in a coordinated manner and addressed collectively by relevant service providers in partnership with the community.
An Garda Siochana introduced a High Visibility Policing (HPV) Plan in Dublin City Centre (North Central, Store Street and South Central and Pearse Street Garda Community Engagement Areas) in March 2025.
During the period from April 2025 to March 2026, there were nearly 6,500 arrests made, over 13,500 charges/summonses and over 1,000 Adult Cautions/ Juvenile Diversion Referrals. The operation coincided with a 23% drop in theft, a 33% reduction in robbery from the person, and assaults causing harm were down by 18%. The High Visibility Policing approach has been extended into the DMR East, Dun Laoghaire and DMR South, Tallaght in recent weeks.
There are also a number of Garda Operations taking place in Dublin to provide a high-visibility policing presence to deter anti-social behaviour. These include:
• Operation Saul which aims to provide a policing response to effectively tackle anti-social behaviour, public order and criminal activity for commuters utilising public transport services in the Dublin Metropolitan Region;
• Operation Táirge targeting Retail Theft;
• Operation Tara tackling street level drug-dealing.
I am pleased to say that feedback from business and the public on the High Visibility Policing approach in Dublin and the other cities where it has been introduced, has been very positive and I look forward to it being rolled out to other areas into the future.
