Barry Ward
Dún Laoghaire · Fine Gael · Ireland
“I acknowledge all of the factors the Minister of State set out. I welcome them all and it is really important that we spread that message. The second part of the Minister of State's response is really important and that is the EU jobs part. I would not necessarily limit it just to the European Union.”
“Let us not abdicate responsibility for politically unpopular decisions, which are still the right decisions, made at European level with the involvement of Irish people.”
“There is little doubt about the positivity we associate with membership of the European Union. Some 82% of Irish people favour membership of the European Union, the highest rate of approval of any European state.”
“It is really important, not from the point of view of influence but from the point of view of presence, that there are Irish people around the table when decisions are being made so that the Irish perspective is understood and heard.”
“To look at it from a purely economic standpoint, the value of being part of the Single Market is enormous. In 1973, we imported €340 million more in goods than we exported. In recent times, we have had an export surplus. We have exported more than €53 billion more than we have imported.”
“As we hold the Presidency of the Council of the EU and are at the heart of Europe, leading the agenda and setting the tone in respect of our priorities during the Presidency, what is the Government doing to communicate to Irish people just how lucky we are to be part of the European Union?”
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“A public consultation has to be real and informed but also something that listens to people and does not impose upon them the decision of a bureaucrat or somebody who is may be an excellent public transport designer but not somebody who has to live with the consequences of the design that ultimately comes from that. The extension of the Luas is hugely important. The Luas does amazing work. It has been a lifeline for many communities, particularly in the south Dublin area, that were just that bit far away from the DART or might not have add access to corridors like the N11. It has worked really well but it can do so much more. I am happy to say that in Dun Laoghaire, we have very advanced cycling infrastructure that is developing all of the time. It is not without its problems.”
“The replacement of certain routes will take time for people to get used to. The bigger difficulty I have with BusConnects is the consultation with local communities. In Shankill in particular, we had a massive problem. There were 3,500-odd signatures on a petition against it or, specifically, against what it would do to Shankill village. That cannot be allowed to happen. If we are going to build large, effective public transport systems, we must couple with that a respect for the people they are supposed to serve. They cannot destroy small villages in County Dublin if they are meant to serve that community. We need to listen to people.”
“That same Line 14 now runs from Saint-Lazare, a major train station in Paris, right the way through the centre of Paris and all the way out to Aéroport d'Orly. We have nothing comparable to that in Dublin. We are really lacking in terms of the infrastructure that needs to be provided in that regard and it is time we got going on that, even if it is only to build a small part of it that can then be added to. In my respectful view, that is the way we have to do it. Instead of deciding we will build a 100-stop metro, let us build one line and we can then add to it. It is something that needs to be given huge priority. BusConnects is something that made huge progress for us. I am not yet convinced by the renaming of all the routes. A cultural icon, the 46A, is gone but that is another issue entirely.”
“In reality, there is a fear around large infrastructure projects but the building of a metro does not have to be a massive infrastructure project. Again, look at the example of Paris. I lived in Paris over 20 years ago and when I was there, they were building Line 14, which is known locally as the Meteor. It had a driverless train, which meant there were not the same difficulties if somebody was not available to come to work for whatever personal reason and that the system could still function. They started off with four stops in central Paris. It ran along a relatively limited area. They built four stops and that was the original infrastructural project. After that, they added a stop at either end, followed by another stop and another stop.”
“If we had started the metro for Dublin when we started talking about it, it would be built now and we would not be relying on buses, many of which do not operate on an electric basis and are still using diesel, clogging up traffic lanes and contributing to environmental pollution. We need to move to a phase where we accept that underground metro transport is part and parcel of being a modern, European city. I know that sometimes there is an allergy in Irish public policy terms to these massive public infrastructure projects. We have had our fingers burned on some projects, although we also fail to recognise those projects that go ahead, are finished on time or ahead of time and on budget or for less than the initial budget. It happens but that does not get coverage in the newspapers.”
“The DART is fantastic and is a wonderful service but it is not frequent enough. I know this is a complex problem and is not something that is easily solved. The frequency of the DART is hugely important. Last week, I was in Paris with Granada Football Club in Blackrock as we were playing a tournament there. Getting around Paris is incredibly easy. There is an underground metro system there but it is coupled with a bus system that is much more local. It means you can reliably get to anywhere within Paris within half an hour. The same cannot be said of Dublin. I have been a long time champion of a proper underground metro system for Dublin. That has to be not just part of the plan but part of the implementation.”
“When a bus is on the timetable and the real-time information at the bus stop but does not arrive, that is a disaster in many respects. First, it contributes to a lack of faith in the reliability of the system. It causes people to be late. The next bus that comes is already full. The route is one bus short and it means that the capacity of the route is diminished because at rush hour in the mornings buses are full and can barely cope with what is there. If one bus does not turn up, that creates huge stress on the line as a whole and a difficulty for people getting on the next bus that comes. It is the same at the next stop and the stop after that. You end up with lots of people being late for work, which is very unfair and also compromises their faith in the system.”
“I welcome the 24-hour nature of the service and it has hugely improved access to the city centre for people in my area, but unfortunately people do not have confidence that the bus stated on the timetable will actually arrive. In fact, this morning, Conor, an intern working in my office, was on a bus that overheated at 9.30 a.m. The weather is lovely and it is great to have the sun shining, but we cannot have a situation where that is causing buses to overheat. He had to wait a long time for a replacement bus to come along. I receive emails over and over again from people in the local area who tell me about ghost buses, something I know the Minister is aware of. We cannot have a situation whereby people try to get a bus to work, but the bus which is supposed to bring them there does not come.”
“I welcome the Bill. The expansion of the terms in the legislation is welcome. We have to recognise that those who seek to access Dublin are not just necessarily from the county of Dublin or the immediate area, but come from further away. I am not sure about the wisdom of placing two Dún Laoghaire constituency Deputies one after the other because I listened to Deputy Devlin's speech and he hit on many of the issues that are important for our area. I, too, feel very strongly about them. One would think a place like Dún Laoghaire benefits from a fine public transport system and, in many respects, that is true. Yet, as we replace the 46A with the E spine, E2 to Dún Laoghaire and the E1 to Bray, we have not had the reliable service we would expect.”
“This is why, while I acknowledge the work that has been done, it is useless if there are facilities providing a quality service in an area where they are serving lots of households and people in communities and all the rest but they cannot sustain it. We need to look at the scheme again to make sure that exactly this kind of facility, like Sharavogue, is facilitated in continuing. We do not need to show this facility the merits of the scheme. We need to meet the problems this childcare centre has and address the legitimate, identifiable and verifiable concerns raised about the cost of doing business.”
“I previously asked for a situation where the level of subsidies paid to facilities would reflect the real cost for them of doing business, but it seems the Department is unwilling to engage on that level. The second thing is that remaining hopeful they will join is not enough. They actually have to be given an incentive. By the same token, there is no need to show Betty Allen and Gillian Dawson the merits of being in the scheme. They understand the merits. They want to be in the scheme. They were in the scheme and they want to continue in the scheme, but they cannot do so. There is no point in remaining hopeful that they might rejoin if nothing is being done to facilitate their rejoining. They do not want to leave the scheme but they are looking at a situation where it is unsustainable for them to stay in it.”
“I thank the Minister of State. I do not doubt his bona fides on this topic. I started by acknowledging the work that has been done. I believe the commitment to reduce the cost of childcare was a serious and sincere one. Insofar as I have had any dealings with the people who fund the programme for Government, I believe that. I recognise the progress, the increased funding and all the rest. However, I will say two things. First, the Minister of State said a small number of facilities have exited the scheme. I would be very interested in seeing an analysis as to where those facilities are. Are they predominantly in urban areas? I suspect they are, because as I said, I feel the costs in urban areas are higher because of the costs of property, rent, insurance, etc., and there is a greater demand on those providers.”
“If we are serious about delivering on that commitment what are we going to do to keep them in this scheme? What provisions are we putting in place for childcare providers in Dún Laoghaire and the rest of the country to ensure they stay within the scheme – which they want to do – and deliver childcare at affordable prices for households and families across the country?”
“Rents and property prices are higher and therefore the cost of living in the area is higher for staff. The school also talked about the cost of insurance, which has gone up and up. The cost of utilities was also raised. The cost of heating and of running the kitchen that provides food for the kids have gone up, as has the cost of cleaning and maintenance, the cost of food itself, the administrative cost and transport costs. All of these have gone up and the problem the management faces – and I can understand where they are coming from – is the scheme the Government has put in place is not reflecting that. They are not alone in thinking that as I could name four other facilities in the Dún Laoghaire constituency that are leaving the scheme for the same reasons.”
“That is just one fee I have picked but it is a massive increase for a household and that is for one child, so where a family has more children in Sharavogue it will go up more. The school provides discounts and help where someone has multiple children in the facility but the point is these are people who are committed to providing childcare and providing quality. The management team have talked about the reasons they have to leave. Salaries is a big one. I have raised it with the Minister, Deputy Foley, in here before that running a childcare facility in Dún Laoghaire is more expensive than it is in much of the rest of the country because the living costs there are higher. She said there was no way to establish that but I totally disagree.”
“They also want to be part of the scheme and to make the service as affordable as they possibly can. However, they have written to parents saying that on 28 August, Sharavogue will have to exit the scheme. It cannot survive with the scheme the Government is putting together. It is not that the management team have not engaged with the Department, as they have. They have brought their problems and their issues to the Government but for whatever reason those have not been addressed. We now have a situation where the children who are in Sharavogue, and more importantly their families and households, will not be able to avail of the scheme. To give an example of that what means, for Montessori from 7:45 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. the current fee per month is €1,332 and when the school leaves the scheme that will go up to €1,725.”
“It is not working for them. The childcare providers are telling us they cannot operate the service they want to operate in line with the subsidies the Government is giving them. I want to draw particular attention to a school called Sharavogue in Glenageary in my constituency. It is a really good school that has been built up over a number of years by the owner, Betty Allen. A letter was sent out by her and Gillian Dawson, who is the manager of the school, to parents saying the school was exiting the scheme. This is a massive blow to the parents who have children in that facility. It is a crèche and a Montessori and provides a number of different levels of care to children. These are people who are dedicating to providing childcare. It is a facility that is based on quality and the team wants to provide a quality service to parents.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as teacht isteach chun déileáil leis an gceist seo. In the election in 2024 his party and mine made a commitment to reduce the cost of childcare. This is an important tenet and in the Dún Laoghaire constituency childcare was one of the major issues people were talking to me about. They were essentially paying a second mortgage to put their children into childcare. It is an enormous cost and an enormous burden on households. The proposed reduction we promised in the election was therefore welcome. It was proportionate and also doable. I recognise the work that has gone into putting this scheme in place to reduce the cost to €200 in line with that commitment. I recognise progress has been made in that area, yet we still see a situation where many schools are exciting the scheme.”
“Even then, when that is full, for example when there is a lot of run-off from rain, there is nowhere for the waste to go but into the sea. All the work that is being done by the various groups I have mentioned is being counteracted by the regular pollution of Dublin Bay in incidents like that. There is an easy solution insofar as we could build a second attenuation tank that would prevent those overflows. It is an easy solution in the medium term and something we should be looking at if we are serious about biodiversity.”
“Even though we have all these local heroes constantly working to put in place facilities to assist with biodiversity, working against them we have litter and pollution. In the context of Dublin Bay biosphere, at the West Pier at the back of Dún Laoghaire Harbour, there is an overflow pipe from the West Pier pumping station. The sewerage collected in the south Dublin area is mostly pumped through the West Pier pumping station, through an under-seabed pipe to Poolbeg, where the sewerage is treated before being released into the sea. However, when there is a lot of rainfall there is a greater demand on the pumping station than it can cope with. When there is too much material going into it, it flows into an overflow tank or attenuation tank at the West Pier, which holds 70,000 litres.”
“We have organisations like Flossie and the Beach Cleaners - Flossie Donnelly is a young girl who has pioneered the cleaning up of our coasts and beaches with groups of volunteers - which collect tonnes of rubbish over a period of years, picking up all kinds of things off the coast and beaches. They are organising pick-ups all the time, not just in our area of Dún Laoghaire but all the way up and down Dublin and the east coast. The work they do is hugely important. They do it in the face of the fact that there are other complicating factors. Even in Kilbogget park, for example, where we have a lovely attenuation pond, a family of swans had to be removed because of an oil spill.”
“It fosters an environment where all those plants can grow. People who drive down Booterstown might sometimes complain about the smell when the tide is out but the people of the area have a close association with and attachment to the valuable asset the Booterstown marsh is. The archipelago of Dalkey Island is also an area where biodiversity and the restoration of habitats for animals that do not have other places to go have been fostered. I acknowledge the work done by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council in the context of the Dalkey Island archipelago. The council, in fairness to it, is constantly working on its biodiversity space, working with local organisations such as the Irish National Sailing School, which has been equipped by the council with things that help it clean up the water in Dún Laoghaire Harbour and the adjacent areas.”
“It does not just do the pick-ups on Saturday mornings that we all associate with Tidy Districts and Tidy Towns organisations. Monkstown Tidy Districts organises many biodiversity events to show people how they can foster biodiversity in their own gardens or on their own balconies if they do not have a garden, and to help them to sow different types of plants that give variety and foster the growth of various fauna in a biodiverse way. I am fortunate to live on the edge of Dublin Bay, which is a UNESCO biosphere. It is a hugely important place and part of that would be places like the Booterstown marsh, administered by An Taisce, which does enormously important work in providing spaces for birds and plants of all different types, both saltwater and freshwater, because it is tidal and the water comes in and out according to the tide.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I join Deputy Aird in acknowledging the work that is being done by people. He mentioned a number of different projects; bees were one of them. That kind of apiculture is really important. We know how much danger there is associated with the native Irish bee. There is an organisation in my own locality called Open Hive, which not only locates hives in places where they might not otherwise be - on private land, on top of apartment buildings and other places like that to allow bees to thrive - but is also engaged in education with the local community to ensure that people interested in keeping bees will get the opportunity to do that. They are some of the many unknown heroes of biodiversity across Ireland. I think of Monkstown Tidy Districts as well, a local organisation.”
“We cannot allow Ireland to fall behind into a position where our guys are not getting a seat at the table the way they should.”
“There should be a dedicated unit within the Department of foreign affairs that has, as its remit, education, information and assistance to help people get into those positions, and doing so in a targeted way with measurables so they can show the increases in numbers of applications and the successes that might come from those applications. If we do not do this, we will allow our numbers to reduce in real terms and our influence within the Union to reduce. It is to be hoped during our Presidency that we will pursue an enlargement agenda which will make the European Union larger. I know that Montenegro might be at the top of the list, but there are countries very close behind it as well. In the coming years, we will see enlargement. A lot of their citizens will have to fill positions.”
“We need to be encouraging those people, and however good it might be now, we need to redouble our efforts. There is an opportunity coming with the Presidency. I know from speaking to colleagues around Europe that there is a very high expectation for how Ireland will do during that Presidency. We all have faith that our officials will continue to deliver at the highest level, as they have done in the past and as they will do again in the second half of this year. However, there is an opportunity now for us to target graduates from university, people within the jobs market. I am not talking about it happening passively but we need to be doing it actively.”
“I agree with the Minister of State on the effort being made. I acknowledge the work done by the Department of foreign affairs and European Movement Ireland. I also acknowledge that Noelle O'Connell has left as the head of European Movement and has been replaced by David Geary. We wish him the best of luck there. They do a particularly good job in terms of advertising jobs and making people aware. While I acknowledge that there has been success there, many of our highly qualified capable graduates are not aware of the opportunities that arise. It is not just the Commission and the Parliament. There are many institutions across the European Union where there are good quality jobs that give people an opportunity to contribute at the highest level but also give us an opportunity as a country to put our values and our views at the top table.”
“There are institutions not just in Luxembourg but across the EU, including Eurofound here in Ireland. This is the time we need to have a concerted effort to inform people in this country about the opportunities there, encourage them to apply and help them make successful applications.”
“It is not just about the pay, there are also favourable tax incentives for them, childcare facilities, healthcare facilities and relocation grants. Lots of things go with these jobs. More importantly, these are immensely fulfilling jobs. They do important work that influences the decisions that are made across our Continent. The opportunity for people in this jurisdiction to contribute at that level is huge. In addition to giving them all that information, we also need to advise them how to apply and how to be successful in their applications so that when they put in applications, they are competitive in that. We are not even competitive yet in terms of the numbers of applications being made. If we do not have enough people applying, we will not have enough people who will be awarded those positions.”
“The people who occupy high positions will retire in the coming years. For example, six Irish people in the Court of Auditors will come to retirement in the coming years. If they retire and leave that service, we do not have the people coming behind them to fill the positions and to ensure we still have that presence within the institutions. It can be said that these are institutions for the whole of the European Union and not for Ireland, and of course that is true, but we should be represented in them. One of the ways we can do that is by focusing our resources to educate people throughout the country on what is available. It is not just that, but we need to encourage them to apply for jobs, to inform them about what the pay and conditions are.”
“One of the things I learned this week is that Ireland is not even in the top ten in terms of European countries applying for such jobs. I am talking about per capita rather than in sheer numbers. It contrasts sharply with countries like Italy, for example, which specifically targets jobs within European institutions by putting in place a whole college, a whole institution, whose job it is to prepare Italians to apply for jobs, to position them, to inform them, to help them make those applications and to help them be competitive when going through the process. Although we have had some notable Irish people at the top of the European civil service like Catherine Day, who was, of course, the head civil servant within the European Commission, many of those people have retired.”
“This week a delegation from the European affairs committee, which I chair, visited Luxembourg where there are a number of European institutions there and a number of Irish people working within those institutions. It was my pleasure to meet many of them and talk to them about the work they are doing. They range from people who are on stages there, people who are trainees within places like the Court of Auditors, to Tony Murphy who is currently the lead person, the president of the Court of Auditors. There are Irish people throughout those institutions contributing at the very highest level. Thank God they are there because the reality is that at the moment our influence within those institutions is waning and we need to do something about that.”
“Baineann mo cheist le fostaíocht san Aontas Eorpach. Tá gá orainn níos mó a dhéanamh chun eolas a thabhairt do dhaoine, go háirithe anseo in Éirinn, faoi na poist atá ar fáil agus an bealach ar féidir iarratas a dhéanamh orthu le go n-éireoidh leo lena gcuid iarratas agus na poist sin a thógáil. Tá sé sin thar a bheith tábhachtach, go háirithe an tseachtain seo nuair atá Lá na hEorpa á cheiliúradh againn Dé hAoine. Caithfidh muid a bheith in ann a rá i rith Uachtaránacht an Aontais Eorpaigh go bhfuil muid ag déanamh iarracht Éireannaigh a chur sna poist sin ar fud na hEorpa. The question I have this evening is about employment in European Union institutions. As this week we celebrate Europe Day commemorating the Schuman Declaration, it is an important week to think about this as we approach the Presidency coming up on 1 July as well.”
“We know from other exposés that have been done by the media that children are getting into these vape shops. They are buying products they should not have access to. We know that 13% of the underage teenagers in the country are vaping. Let us stop that. Let us make sure we have a situation where we say it is not okay to target them with a product that is potentially carcinogenic, certainly bad for them and is definitely going to encourage them to smoke. It is not okay to target that at kids. We have to stop it. We have to make sure they act responsibly.”
“The big thing about the big puff devices is that because they are selling in greater volume, they do so at a lower unit price, so there is a financial incentive for people to use the big puff devices instead of the standard ones. To come back to where I started, the big thing about this Bill is that we currently have a situation where there are what I would consider to be irresponsible retailers. I know we do not criticise people, and I will not name anyone, but every Member has in his or her constituency a vape shop like this on a main street somewhere that is clearly designed in a way that we would not expect to be consistent with cigarettes or with vapes that are aimed at adults. What we have are shops that are clearly targeted at a different audience. It is not acceptable.”
“We need to make sure there is not a situation in a year or two years’ time where we have put in place this legislation, and we are trying to protect children in particular, but there is then a situation where people find a vehicle to circumvent it. That is a difficult ask but the whole point is to try to see the future and see around every corner. What is really important is that we avoid situations like that. Is there anything in this legislation, for example, that is going to deal with big puff devices? These big puff devices also circumvent the legislation we passed just weeks ago on single-use devices, because although they are technically not covered by that legislation, as I understand it, they are frequently discarded afterwards, so they create the same environmental impact as single-use devices.”
“The 2016 EU regulations make clear the limitations. They ensure that cartridges and tanks cannot exceed a volume of 2 ml, and attachments or refillable containers cannot exceed 10 ml. However, these big puff devices are circumventing that legislation. They are allowing the putting together of a product where people can clip on multiple different devices, which means the device is much more potent, but certainly much more voluminous than is allowed. They are getting through a loophole. Can the Minister of State assure me that the legislation is going to put in place plugs for all of those loopholes?”
“They are former smokers or reformed smokers. I accept the role that vapes may play for smokers in reducing their dependency on a much more carcinogenic product, as far as we know, and getting them off cigarettes. That is fine. What this Bill has to be about is plugging the loopholes in the law that allow the traders in vapes to target younger audiences, to catch that captive audience, get them addicted to nicotine and then secure a market for life. We are where we were 70 years ago when it came to cigarettes but there is an opportunity for this legislation to get in and stop this from happening now. Plugging those loopholes is a very important thing. The Minister of State will be aware of what are called “big puff” vape devices. This is exactly the way in which these companies are getting around the regulations.”
“On the one hand, I do not have a problem with that, and the notion that adults can make that choice is a good thing. The difficulty is not that adults cannot make that choice. The difficulty is that this space is being invaded by these psychedelic nicotine pushers to inveigle their way not to the adults, but the children. At the moment, the figures show that 13% of 12- to 17-year-olds in this country are using vapes. They were not previously smokers. They are children who have been persuaded by marketing and advertising to use these products. All of the data suggests that they will go on not to avoid smoking, but to become smokers because these companies are forcing a situation where they become addicted to nicotine, and that habit will only grow from there. In contrast, only 7% of adults in Ireland are using vapes, as I understand it.”
“The point he is making is this: why on earth, if someone is selling these products, which are not supposed to be available to children, market them in this way if not to target that audience? It is not legal, which is an important point. One of the important aspects of this Bill is that we are going to attack the situation where we have an abuse of process, in essence, by certain shops throughout the country, which are definitely targeting younger audiences. They should not be. That should be shut down. I absolutely reject the argument made by some other speakers that this is actually about choice or eliminating choice, and that adults should be able to make choices about what they buy and consume in terms of the flavours, colours and whatever else.”
“Cuirim fáilte roimh an mBille seo. Tá sé thar a bheith tábhachtach. Tá gá leis na rudaí atá sa Bhille. This is welcome legislation. I want to particularly paraphrase what my colleague, the Sligo county councillor, Fergal Nealon, said in the media this week. He talked about psychedelic nicotine pushers. He was talking about shops in Sligo town that his own child was trying to get him to go into, even though they were vape shops. He said that the windows are designed essentially like a cartoon shop, a Disney shop or something like that. It is 100% deliberate, I presume, but they certainly attract children who are into that kind of shopfront. The products in the window include toys placed next to these nicotine dispensing vapes.”
“If only for the reason that we want to protect those children from the consequences of getting on a slippery slope to more serious criminality as adults, it is incumbent on us a legislature and as a State, on the Department and on An Garda Síochána to put a stop to this. We need to make sure the message gets out to those kids that if they are going to behave antisocially and criminally, there will be consequences and they will suffer them. I recognise what the Minister said about the juvenile liaison system. It has yielded results. There is no doubt about that. Maybe it needs more resources and maybe we need to make it more effective and more commonly used but there cannot be a message to young people, or children in particular, that they can behave with impunity because they cannot.”
“They will continue to disrupt the lives of lawful and law abiding citizens in our communities. It may be that a legislative response is required, but I also think that we should be having a conversation about this and asking ourselves what we need to do to ensure that there is some kind of an arrest to the antisocial behaviour that is creating victims in our local communities. As I said, the spectrum of activity ranges from bad behaviour, shouting or whatever in a local area to much more serious things like property damage to businesses, theft, robbery, assault and more serious matters.”
“I thank the Minister for his acknowledgement of the work gardaí in Dún Laoghaire and Blackrock are doing. I was delighted to welcome him to Blackrock when he visited recently. I appreciate his attention to the issue. I also acknowledge what he said about the progressiveness of the Children Act. That is important but if we are relying on Oberstown or incarceration for children, the system has already failed at that stage. There are people locally who tell me that there are young children who will say to them when they are confronted about their criminal behaviour that they cannot be touched or be arrested or face the consequences that would apply to an adult. The younger they are, the more they believe that and as long as they believe it, they will continue to act with impunity.”
“I do not know the details, but I am sure it will take its course within the courts. Further up the scale, gardaí may have the powers to act. That is fine. However, in terms of the stuff that impinges on ordinary people and prevents them from the peaceful enjoyment of their properties and their neighbourhoods or from going to work, school or to the shops, there is a major problem. I would love to hear the Minister's proposals for how we are going to deal with that.”
“Whatever about there being no prosecution, the reality is there is a deficit at the moment in what gardaí can do to deal specifically with juvenile misbehaviour, juvenile antisocial behaviour and juvenile criminality. Obviously, the further up the scale of seriousness it goes, the greater the power of gardaí to act. At the moment, however, people in the Dún Laoghaire constituency, which is a lovely place to live and one that does not generally suffer from major crime problems, tell me that there is a growing problem with juvenile antisocial behaviour. This is a problem that exists in parks and housing estates and on main streets. In Deansgrange recently, the windows of many shops were broken overnight. That was done by one particular offender who, I understand, has been apprehended by gardaí.”
“For example, a 14-year-old who engages in criminal activity in the local area, maybe at a low level, gets arrested by the Garda and is brought down to Blackrock or Dún Laoghaire Garda station cannot be left in a cell on their own, first of all. When they are there, they cannot be with one adult on their own. Two gardaí have to be with them. That takes two gardaí off the streets. They cannot be out doing the work we need them to do at a particular time. In due course, a parent is called. I acknowledge that many of these problems often stem from a lack of parental control. When the parent or guardian is called, he or she comes down to the station and the child is released into that person's custody. They are brought home and they are not even kept in the house for the rest of the night sometimes. No prosecution may flow from that.”
“I have met people in the Dún Laoghaire area who tell me they will not let their 12-year-old children go to the shop on their own because of kids in the area who might intimidate them, intercept them or even rob them. We cannot allow that to continue. I have raised this with the Garda. We are lucky in south Dublin's F and W districts, namely Dún Laoghaire and Blackrock, to have gardaí who are on top of their brief, who are working incredibly hard, who liaise with the communities and who are plugged into the situation. However, the problem is that they do not feel they are equipped with either the resources or, perhaps more importantly, the powers to deal with this issue.”
“I would be the last to suggest we should increase the criminalisation of young people. Doing so is unhelpful in many ways. I will allude briefly to the dysfunctionality of our current Children's Court system and the delays in implementing all the progressive measures that were put into the Children Act 25 years ago. However, on the flip side of that coin, you cannot have a situation in which young people, teenagers, are doing whatever they want to whomever they want without any fear of consequence. That leads to considerable lawlessness in communities and massively interrupts the ability of ordinary people living in them to enjoy their property, get on with their lives, go to work, bring their children to school and even send their children to the shop.”