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Lord Mayor's Commission on Antisocial Behaviour. (2012) Lord Mayors Commission on antisocial behaviour. Dublin City Council.

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Recommendations: Alcohol and other drugs
• Publish implementation plan for the recommendations of the Steering Group (Department of Health). In particular, the following recommendations should be progressed:
• • Set a minimum price per gram of alcohol (Department of Finance).
• • Introduce a statutory code of practice in the off-licence sector (Department of Justice and Equality).
• • Strengthen legislative controls on distance sales (Department of Justice and Equality).
• • Introduce further controls on all alcohol advertising, promotion and marketing, including the phasing out over time of all drinks industry sponsorship of sport and other large public events (Department of Health).
• • Develop evidence based approaches to addressing needs of children and families experiencing alcohol dependency problems (HSE).
• • Publish formal statement of cross-party support for the recommendations of the Steering Group (All Political Parties/TDs).
• Support the Dublin City Development Plan 2011- 2017 in limiting the concentration of alcohol retail outlets in an area and the display and advertising of alcohol in outlets. (Dublin City Council).
• JPC’s to engage with communities to comment on the granting of licences on an annual basis (JPC’s).
• Support a pilot project to gather evidence as to the benefits of ‘Wet Facilities’ for street drinkers (HSE and Dublin City Council)
• While we await reports on its effectiveness in criminal justice settings in Scotland, we encourage, on a trial basis, its use in health care/alcohol treatment services in Dublin based on the informed consent of a small number of volunteers already engaged with services.
• National Public Health Campaign highlighting the risks of alcohol use during pregnancy (Department of Health).
• Education of professionals including G.P.’s, paediatricians, public health nurses, social workers and other health professionals in the signs and symptoms of FASD to improve detection and reduce the risk of misdiagnosis (Department of Health).
• The development of national best practice guidelines in the assessment of Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (Department of Health).
• Further research establishing the efficacy of interventions for FASD and developing structures to deliver intervention before affected children reach six years of age (Department of Health).

Key recommendations include:
EARLY INTERVENTION WORKS
"The HSE’s Early Intervention Parenting programmes work and should be rolled out throughout the City, starting with the most marginalised communities", Andrew Montague said. "These programmes strengthen the bond between parents and infants in the first two years of life. Research consistently shows that these parenting programmes offer the best value for money in giving a child the emotional skills to deal with life and diverting them from a later pattern of antisocial behaviour."

STOP SALE OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS ON CITY STREETS
"There is a serious problem with the sale and swapping of prescription drugs in Dublin city centre", he went on. "Empower the Gardaí to prosecute in cases where offenders are found to be trading prescription drugs and introduce a national protocol on the prescription of benzodiazepines, as a matter of urgency to address problematic issues like repeat prescriptions. Care for drug users locally. Methadone treatment must be made promptly available, where the user lives. Implement local services for methadone treatment for local people in local areas, rather than forcing people to access services in the city centre."

RESTORATIVE JUSTICE
"Restorative Justice forces offenders to face up to the real impact of their behaviour and recompense the victims. It offers an effective response to antisocial behaviour and offending generally. It can be used for a range of offences from antisocial behaviour to serious crime and can even be used in conjunction with prison sentences. It can be very effective either as an alternative or a complement to the existing range of responses. I believe the use of Restorative Justice should be extended in the Dublin Area".

The impact on antisocial behaviour on local communities and businesses is destructive, de-stabilising and it erodes any feeling of community safety and well-being", concluded the Lord Mayor.


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