New powers for local authorities and the Garda to deal with anti-social behaviour will be introduced this year, Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has said.
Addressing the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice yesterday, he outlined plans to introduce a mechanism known as an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO), which, he said, had worked well in Britain.
Such orders would allow local authorities or the Garda to summon offenders to court on a civil rather than a criminal basis.
"If, for instance, a little old lady living in a corner house has kids sitting on her garden wall until late hours every night drinking and creating trouble, rather than dealing with these people through the criminal system, what can be done is summon the people involved to court on a civil basis."
The offenders would be warned that if they were involved in the same behaviour again it would become an arrestable offence.
ASBOs were introduced in Britain in 1998, and first used in 1999. The orders can be applied for by local authorities, police forces and registered social landlords. An order directs an offender to desist from specific anti-social acts or entering defined areas, and is effective for a minimum of two years. Breach of an order is considered a crime.
Mr McDowell said it was a "major priority" to focus Garda resources on "high-visibility policing".
"Public confidence is hugely proportionate to the visibility of policing. What we are trying to do is get the force out from behind desks as much as possible."
He said he was "very confident" he had a package of measures to advance this aim "this calendar year".
Mr McDowell also told the committee yesterday that "only a handful" of gardaí were involved in road-traffic policing.
He said a specific Road Traffic Corps would be established "on a progressive basis" over the next year. While there were now between 500 and 600 gardaí in road-traffic units the plan was to have up to 1,200 in the new corps.
He thought the perception of how effective the current 500 to 600 gardaí could be was "a little exaggerated at the moment".
When those currently assigned to traffic duties were distributed over the 26 counties, and shift patterns were taken into account, "it is only a handful of people at a time allocated to road-traffic duties at the moment".
He rejected calls made yesterday by the deputy chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, Denis Bradley, for an independent policing authority in this State. Mr Bradley said an independent body was necessary to oversee the Garda.
"What is good for Northern Ireland is not necessarily good for a sovereign state," said the Minister.
