Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 July 2026
140. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the key measures taken to tackle crime and improve community safety since January 2025; his priorities for same for the rest of 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51945/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis Government is committed to building stronger, safer communities across the country.
The Garda Vote in Budget 2026 includes unprecedented funding of €2.74 billion which will support the continued recruitment of Garda personnel.
It is clear that recruitment into An Garda Síochána has gathered real momentum. Cohorts of over 200 trainees are now entering Templemore regularly. The overall Garda workforce has increased from 15,980 in 2016 to over 18,200 in 2026. With three recruitment competitions to join An Garda Síochána in the last 18 months there is a strong pipeline of recruits regularly entering and attesting from the Garda College. This will ensure that the Commissioner has additional resources to deploy to divisions nationwide. This will also support the expansion of the High Visibility Policing Plan introduced in Dublin City Centre in March 2025, which has since been rolled out to Cork and Limerick City Centres, as well as areas of South Dublin, including Tallaght and Dún Laoghaire.
The Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024, which I commenced in April 2025, provides for the establishment of 36 Local Community Safety Partnerships (Safety Partnerships) within each local authority area.
The Safety Partnerships bring together a broad range of relevant stakeholders to address community safety issues in their area, including residents, community representatives, business and education representatives, local councillors, and a range of public services including senior representatives of the HSE, Tusla, An Garda Síochána and the local authority.
Each local partnership will be responsible for developing a tailored and prioritised plan specific to that area in conjunction with the community and the relevant public services. Safety Partnerships leverage local and national policies, planning and funding to ensure service delivery is aligned with local needs. Drawing together the collective resources of partners at the table, they will ensure interventions are delivered proactively by the service best placed to deliver it and in a joined up, integrated way with other services.
The National Office for Community Safety, an office of my Department, is providing support and guidance to Safety Partnerships in the performance of their functions and to monitor the implementation of local community safety plans. It is also a statutory function of the National Office to commission research and evaluations relating to the operation of Safety Partnerships. Such monitoring and evaluations will be guided by the strategic pillars of the National Strategy for Improving Community Safety. This strategy is currently being finalised following public consultation, ensuring our research is evidence-led and responsive to the safety concerns of communities across Ireland.
I am very pleased that this Government has, in recent years, significantly increased the funding for youth justice initiatives. The budget allocation for Youth Justice measures has almost doubled from 2020 to 2026. Following a significant increase of €7.3 million in additional core exchequer funding as part of Budget 2026, the total allocation for youth justice measures is now €43 million.
There are currently 92 Youth Diversion Projects and 4 Targeted Youth Diversion Projects across the country that are co-funded by my Department and the European Union. With these funds, these Projects employ dedicated Youth Justice workers who respond daily to the needs of young people across the country.
With the official opening of POINT Youth Diversion Project on 18 June, Youth Diversion is available to all children and young people across the country.
The Rural Safety Plan 2025-2027 brings together and strengthens all of the various strands of work being carried out in relation to rural safety. It has been developed by my Department, in conjunction with the National Rural Safety Forum.
The Plan’s vision is to ensure people and communities in rural Ireland feel safe and are safe in their homes, places of work, and their local environments. It does this by identifying four key priority areas that we will focus on to achieve the overall goal. These areas are: Community Safety & Engagement, Property Crime, Roads Policing, and Animal & Wildlife Crime.
The Programme for Government commits to publishing a Retail Crime Strategy with targeted actions to reduce retail crime and support affected businesses. Work on the Strategy is well advanced and I expect to receive a draft in the coming weeks for detailed consideration. I look forward to engaging with its proposed objectives, priorities and recommendations to ensure that the final Strategy reflects the priorities of the Government and the needs of retailers, workers and communities. Following this process and subject to final approval, it is my intention to publish the Strategy later this year.
