Written answer
Antisocial Behaviour
The Government cited increased Garda funding and recruitment, Local Community Safety Partnerships, expanded youth diversion, stronger ASBO laws, body-worn cameras and rehabilitation measures to tackle antisocial behaviour and repeat offending. It does not collate conviction data; court and CSO sources hold the relevant information.
384. Deputy Paul Lawless asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the measures being taken to address repeat offending and anti social behaviour in towns and rural communities; the number of persons convicted of repeat theft and public order offences in each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [67827/26]
Comment on this
This Government is committed to building stronger, safer communities across the country.
As Minister, my role is to ensure that the Garda Commissioner has the resources that he needs to tackle crime and this is reflected in the allocation of over €2.74 billion in Budget 2026. With three recruitment competitions held since February 2025 and a strong pipeline of recruits regularly entering and attesting from the Garda College, the Garda Commissioner has additional resources available for deployment across divisions nationwide.
I can assure the Deputy that I will continue to engage with the Commissioner to ensure that he has the resources that he needs to tackle crime in all of our communities.
The Deputy may also be aware that 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. Each Safety Partnership is mandated to consult with their community in the development of a local community safety plan to improve community safety in the relevant area. These plans will prioritise issues of importance to the community and develop collaborative responses to these issues.
Along with the introduction of Safety Partnerships, the Government is taking a range of measures to tackle antisocial behaviour and public safety, including;
• Continued expansion of youth justice and youth diversion measures to reduce youth offending and improve safety for everyone in the community
• Strengthening the laws around Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) to enable swifter action by Gardaí in such cases
• The deployment of body-worn cameras for Gardaí in Dublin, Waterford and Limerick on a pilot basis with nationwide rollout to follow.
This Government remains focused on reducing re-offending, including by diverting people, where appropriate, away from the criminal justice system and ensuring the underlying causes of offending behaviour are addressed.
The Irish Prison Service and my Department continue to focus on maximising opportunities for rehabilitation in order to reduce reoffending. A range of policies have been developed to achieve this, including through the Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform, which includes increasing the use of alternatives to custodial sanctions where appropriate, and the recommendations of the High-Level Taskforce to consider the mental health and addiction challenges of those who come into contact with the criminal justice sector.
The Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration does not collate or publish data on crime statistics or criminal convictions. In this regard the Deputy wish to note that information in respect of convictions is recorded by the courts service while data on crime statistics and rates of re-offending are published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and can be accessed on the CSO website at: www.cso.ie/en/statistics/crimeandjustice/