Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 May 2026
2. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration his views on the representation of areas in Dublin Central within local community safety partnerships; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35929/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe number one issue that comes across for me in my constituency of Dublin Central is community safety. Large portions of the constituency are not represented on the community safety partnership. Cabra, Drumcondra and Glasnevin do not have a Garda superintendent. The purpose of my question is to ask the Minister about the structure of the community safety partnerships.
The local community safety partnerships are extremely important in terms of what the Government and I are trying to do within local communities. I commenced the operation of these partnerships in April of last year. Throughout the country there have been a number of meetings of the local community safety partnerships. I think they will be a major improvement on what was there before, namely the joint policing committees.
I am very pleased to note that the Dublin Central local community safety partnership had its first meeting on 26 January. Councillor Cieran Perry was elected as chair and Gerry Breen was elected as vice chair. I worked with both of them on Dublin City Council. They are two fine public representatives. Gerry Breen is no longer a public representative, but I certainly have great confidence in Cieran Perry and, indeed, Gerry Breen. There are currently 26 members appointed to it. The purpose is to try to ensure that we get across-the-board representation of youth services, the business community, older persons, and addiction and substance misuse support services, which are very important in Dublin Central. The constituency encompasses Cabra, Glasnevin and the north inner city.
The issue the Deputy is concerned about is in respect of the superintendents. It is my understanding that there are superintendents from Mountjoy, Store Street and the Bridewell on it. The Deputy's concern is that Cabra and Glasnevin superintendents may not be on it. I want to emphasise that there is flexibility in terms of the attendance of superintendents. My information from An Garda Síochána is that if information is required in respect of Glasnevin or Cabra, that can be provided. There is good Garda representation there. What we want to do is to try to change the local community safety partnerships from joint policing committees, which sometimes just had a phalanx of senior gardaí sitting there listening to councillors. We need a broader representation and that is what I think this committee will provide.
It was not just councillors; TDs were also eligible to go to the joint policing committee structure. I was a regular attender at meetings of my local joint policing committee. Here is my issue. We constantly hear about a large Garda presence in the city centre. This is something the Minister has championed. I will possibly discuss that again later. However, I will give the example of communities like Cabra or even Drumcondra, which is actually covered by Ballymun Garda station. In Cabra last week, a constituent of mine was going around the Bogies roundabout. A load of lads wearing balaclavas came past on scooters. The man in question tried to ring the local Garda station in Cabra but he got no answer, so he had this innovative solution. He rang the Garda station in Rathmines. The call was answered but, obviously, the gardaí there could not process the complaint. The man's action was born of frustration. We are not getting gardaí in Cabra. We are not getting gardaí to respond to burglaries in Drumcondra. I am sure the Minister is hearing this on the same doors in the same way I am. They do not have representation on the community forum structures set up to address these issues. We are in a bit of a quagmire here in the sense that Garda numbers are not reflective of what we are being told in the communities outside the commercial city centre. The prospect for representation on the structures does not exist because the superintendents are not there.
In terms of the narrative the Deputy outlined in respect of his constituent, I repeatedly attend meetings of residents' associations at which, very appropriately, members of An Garda Síochána turn up. The message I consistently hear is that if you want to get the assistance of An Garda Síochána, the most appropriate thing to do is to phone 999. I know that we sometimes think we should only phone 999 if it is an emergency. In fact, the most effective way of having a complaint processed expeditiously and efficiently is to phone 999. I urge people such as the Deputy's constituent to do that.
On the previous occasion I was in the Dáil speaking about Garda numbers, one of Deputy Gannon's Opposition colleagues - not someone from the Social Democrats - said that he cannot leave Leinster House without tripping over gardaí. There are a lot of gardaí in Dublin Central at present. As Deputy Gannon knows, we have initiated a high-visibility policing campaign. That is still operating, and there are very many gardaí in the city centre. I want to see more gardaí deployed in suburban areas such as Glasnevin and Cabra, and I think that will happen as numbers increase.
No more than the Minister, I cannot speak for a member of a party that is not my own. I do not doubt for a second that when I walk outside Leinster House, I will see a number of gardaí. When I leave RTÉ if I am doing an interview in the morning, I see a lot of gardaí in the Donnybrook area. I cannot escape the fact that when I am walking around my constituency, certainly the parts of it outside the O'Connell Street area, it is very difficult to find gardaí. This comes up constantly. I attended a residents' association meeting in Drumcondra recently at which there was a discussion on the increasing number of burglaries and the fact that gardaí are not arriving until two or three days later to investigate. The issue in Cabra is that people are being directed to call 999 - I have issues with that - but they still want to have a sense that they can call their local Garda station if something is happening in the immediate vicinity. The problem is that because of the level of high-visibility policing in the commercial city centre, the residential communities surrounding it feel they are being left behind. This is a matter I would like the Minister to address, perhaps through the structures of community safety partnerships. Maybe he will make a comment on it.
Residential areas are not being left behind. What is happening is that increased Garda resources are being placed in areas that require high-visibility policing. We are starting in the inner city. As stated, this will be rolled out to more residential areas and throughout the country. The recorded crime statistics released on 26 March 2026 are quite revealing. They report a reduction in recorded crime in nine categories for 2025 in the Dublin metropolitan region, DMR, north central and north Garda divisions. These categories include damage to property, the environment and burglary-related offences. I am informed the Central Statistics Office, CSO, reported a reduction in recorded crime in eight categories for 2025 in the DMR west Garda division. High-visibility policing is having an impact in reducing crime. The only basis I can go on to assess whether crime numbers are going up or down is that of the recorded figures coming from the CSO. Based on these, high-visibility policing and the work of An Garda Síochána are proving effective.
