I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to take this Commencement matter. The issue I raise is occurring in Newbridge, which is the town I live in, but I am very appreciative that it is an issue not just there but in many large urban areas and, indeed, in other towns in County Kildare. I refer to the urgent issue of youth antisocial behaviour. In recent weeks and months, we have been subject to the actions of what I can only describe as a gang of marauding youths, some of whom are as young as ten. It is very concerning to see boys of that age, and they are all boys, being part of a peer group that is constantly engaged in behaviour that includes vandalism, intimidation, harassment, shoplifting and egging cars and buildings.

It is particularly difficult for women walking on their own. They are being targeted. In recent times a woman with a small baby was targeted. I am aware of instances where they have gone into shops. There is a new small business open on Station Road at The Nook. They have robbed from it and harassed the shopowner there in the first few weeks of the business opening. They have also targeted delivery drivers and specific estates, particularly new estates close to the railway station. They have thrown stones and kicked in doors. In one commercial premises there were only some young ladies inside and some of them tried to force open a door. It is incredibly concerning. It has been escalating. The Garda has been very good and I have been liaising with it quite a bit. Two gardaí have been put on the beat constantly. That is certainly helping but the Garda is concerned, with its resources, that it will not be able to keep that up. One of my asks is that we look at having gardaí constantly on the beat. We also need plainclothes gardaí in particular around the Whitewater Shopping Centre and some of those areas which are a constant draw for these groups.

Is obviously not just about the gardaí. There needs to be a societal and a business response. A lot of the businesses have joined together in setting up their own WhatsApp group so they alert one another when there is particular negative behaviour and engagements. That is good to get out ahead. They contact the Garda as well. We need to look more at why this is happening. I would say some of it is down to bad parenting but not all of it. We need to see where society can step in and help parents in that case. We also need more youth outreach. Kildare County Council bought a premises for young people as a drop-in centre. We need something that will engage, particularly between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. when these young boys have left school and before they go home for dinner. We need a community-led response working with the local authorities and the Garda. I am interesting to hear what the Minister of State has to say about how we as a community can try to tackle this problem.

I am here on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan. I know the Senator has engaged directly with him on this issue. He is very aware of her concerns in this area. Unfortunately he cannot be here today.

The Government is committed to the principle that wherever they live in Ireland, people should feel safe. Building safe and secure communities across the country by investing in An Garda Síochána is a top priority for this Government. The Government wants every part of the country to be a safe space for people to live and work in. The Minister secured a record investment in budget 2026 of €2.74 billion for An Garda Síochána.

Antisocial behaviour is a broad term often used to describe a range of actions and behaviours that violate social norms in specific contexts. I am conscious of the very damaging impact, which the Senator clearly outlined in her contribution, it can have on our communities. Along with increased Garda recruitment and resources, the Government is taking a range of targeted and integrated measures to tackle crime and antisocial behaviour generally. They include introducing community safety partnerships around the country to develop community safety plans for every area, which touches on the point the Senator made about community involvement being central to tacking this. They also include continued expansion of youth justice and youth diversion measures to reduce youth offending and improve safety for everyone in the community. The budget allocation for youth justice measures has almost doubled from 2020 to 2026, with a significant allocation of €7.3 million in additional core Exchequer funding for youth justice measures announced as part of budget 2026, bringing the total allocation in this area to €43 million.

Strengthening the laws around antisocial behaviour orders enables swifter action by gardaí in such cases. The national roll-out and deployment of body-worn cameras for gardaí is also a very important part. Local community safety partnerships, LCSPs, bring together a broad range of relevant stakeholders, including local councillors, An Garda Síochána, local residents, community representatives, business and education representatives and a range of statutory agencies, including the HSE and Tusla in each local authority. The Minister recently appointed the membership of the final LCSP in Limerick on 9 June, meaning that all 36 of the partnerships are now formally established. Each LCSP will be required to develop and implement its own tailored community safety plan. The partnerships will take a strategic approach to their work, so that issues arising can be dealt with in a co-ordinated manner and addressed collectively by relevant service providers in partnership with the community.

While there has been an approximate 25% increase in the population of 12- to 17-year-olds over the past ten years, the number of children coming to the attention of the Garda national youth diversion bureau has remained steady, pointing to a reduction in youth offending. Between 2012 and 2022, there has been a drop in total criminal incidents involving children of 35%. There has been a reduction of 31% in the number of children in detention over the past ten years. With the official opening of the POINT youth diversion project in Tipperary on 18 June, youth diversion is available to all children and young people across the country. There are currently 92 youth diversion projects and 14 targeted youth diversion projects across the country. These are co-funded by the Department of justice 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.

I appreciate that the Senator is talking specifically of the incidents she raised, but the national response is also being mirrored at local level. That is an indication of the seriousness with which this is taken by the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and myself.

I thank the Minister of State. I acknowledge that the Minister came down to Newbridge at my invitation and met with local business owners, not specifically in relation to this issue but other antisocial behaviour that was happening. As a result of that, we got extra gardaí, which was important. We need to have more. I will say two things: it is good that there generally is a reduction in harmful and aggressive behaviour by young people and this is a tiny percentage. Most of the young people we have are wonderful young people who are great ambassadors for their towns. There is a concern in Newbridge that if there is a group of young boys, people automatically think that they are part of this marauding group. There is a concern for those who are completely innocent of this behaviour. That is part of it.

I welcome the local community safety partnerships. Oireachtas Members are not on it and cannot be members of it. That is a shame because we were members of the preceding partnerships. That was really important. We certainly need to put more into our youth diversion projects and into In Sync, which does a really good job in Newbridge. I visited it relatively recently. We need to support our local authorities in having those drop-in centres for young people where they learn respect, positive behaviour and that this type of behaviour is simply not acceptable.

I thank the Senator very much. I totally agree with her. The key point she made was that not all young people are involved in antisocial behaviour. It is a minority of people who are involved in it. It is very much a matter of making sure that the resources are there from An Garda Síochána, the support services and the various stakeholders in the community to ensure that when this group, which is a small group, is committing the type of antisocial behaviour that can destroy a community a response is in place. The Senator said that the Minister was with her and down visiting.

The operational deployment of An Garda Síochána is a matter for the Garda Commissioner. I am, however, advised that at the end of May, from the latest data available, 533 gardaí of all ranks were assigned to the Carlow-Kildare division.

Of those, 435 were assigned to stations in County Kildare, with 59 members assigned to Newbridge station. The gardaí are supported by 64 civilian staff and 12 Garda reserves in this division. It should be noted that An Garda Síochána polices on a divisional basis rather than a station basis. The resources from across the division are utilised where required to provide a policing response. These resources are further supported by regional and national units, as required.

I will convey the Senator's remarks to the Minister, as I know the Senator will herself.