McEntee street crime plan for Dublin “half-baked” says Gannon

A new safety plan announced today by the Minister for Justice to tackle street crime in Dublin completely “lacks substance” and is full of “rehashed proposals,” claims Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon.

The plan, announced by Minister Helen McEntee this morning, outlines that “the local community knows best how to improve safety in their areas, and will – working the HSE, Tusla, education providers, business groups, An Garda Síochána, public and community representatives – draw up plans to identify what actions are needed.”

The Dublin Central TD said “while it is hard to argue with the merit of any of the proposals, the reality is that many of these measures have already been announced in previous plans for the North East Inner City.”

“To me, this reads like an analysis of existing problems rather than the Minister saying what she is actually going to do about them.

“Laughably, proposals to repair lighting, improve the appearance of streets and tackle littering are simply a description of Dublin City Council doing a job they already should be doing.”

Gannon pointed to “glaring omissions” citing the lack of any engagement with sporting organisations such as local boxing clubs and football teams.

“This is a missed opportunity to utilise the skills of people who have experience of reaching hard-to-reach youth,” he said.

“The lack of a defined budget for all these measures is also concerning. It is worth noting that the extra €10 million for garda overtime announced during the summer will run out in December. The Minister needs to outline what new funding will be put in place for the permanent policing presence that Dublin city centre deserves.”

Gannon, who has been a critic of the Coalition’s handling of the O’Connell Street issue, renewed his calls for a multi-agency response to the issue, and criticised the Government for not implementing it sooner.

“Instead of producing glossy brochures full of half-baked ideas, the Government needs to stop playing catch-up and invest in preventative, fully funded measures that will reverse the decline of our capital city,” he stated.