... Senator Sharon Keogan: At the same time, we are also having to deal with a new generation of cartelised drug gangs that are increasingly operating with ease across porous borders using Ireland as a drugs import hub for Europe. I take this opportunity to praise the Trojan work being undertaken by Detective Chief Superintendent Séamus Boland and his team in stepping up seizures and combating organised crime in our country. However, it is worrying that the scale and number of seizures and arrests only ever seem to increase. Unfortunately, like many gardaí, Detective Chief Superintendent Boland is fighting an uphill battle...

Senator Garret Ahearn: I am sharing time with Senator Duffy. We will take five minutes each, if that is agreeable. The Minister is very welcome to the Chamber. He has now been here two weeks in a row, which is a good start. You cannot talk about community safety or crime without first acknowledging the service our gardaí provide right across the country. In our jobs, we deal with them on a weekly basis. We know the sacrifices they and their families make for them to carry out the work they do. We have family members, friends and neighbours who play that really important role. When we talk about community drive, we should talk about it in a positive sense. There are challenges in every job, and in the job of our gardaí more than most, but that role can be really fulfilling. That is important to say...

The third thing, which is quite common, is the sale of drugs right in a town centre on a main street. The Minister said in his contribution that visibility of gardaí is one of the things that keeps being brought up with us as public representatives, and I completely agree with him. I also agree with his narrative that when people talk about visibility of gardaí that means there is trust in the gardaí but people want to see more of them. We see such obvious signs of drug taking and drug selling on the main streets of places such as Clomnel and other towns across Tipperary, and that is not the way it was 20 or 25 years ago...

Senator Mark Duffy: I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach. I welcome the Minister and thank him for his contributions last week and this afternoon. My experience of policing in County Mayo has been very positive. I served on Mayo County Council over the past six years and the model I found most effective and efficient in terms of being close to the people and gardaí being the guardians of the peace on the ground was the community policing model in the towns of Castlebar, Westport, and Ballina where I am from.

The community policing model is brilliant in multiple ways. It is the touchpoint for the gardaí on the ground, whether it is touching base with the shops to keep an eye on crime, being visible on the streets or in relation to rural isolation. There is nothing better than a garda in a community policing role who is conscious of Mary who lives on her own two miles out of town and who may need something, such as presence and visitation. Given the number of community gardaí in Mayo who are fabulous at their jobs and do them so well, I ask the Minister to consider expanding that model and rolling it out as much as possible to every town, village and community because it has such a positive effect. Even from intelligence gathering on crime or petty crime, although not even petty crimes but larger scale crimes that are committed, community police are on the ground every day and are picking up information that can be fed back while also showing the presence of the force right across the community.

From an elected member's point of view, the second matter is the role of joint policing committees. I know changes have been proposed but it is really important from a local democracy point of view that the decision-making, interaction and orbit of the Garda remains as close as possible to the county councillors and elected representatives on the ground. As representatives we are, and councillors are, the touchpoint for the community on the ground and the elected members and the gardaí need to be interlinked. It can only be a net gain for communities.

When preparing for my contribution, I wrote a note about data control and Senator Keogan raised this issue as well. The system in place does not make sense. In Ballina, if gardaí want access to CCTV, they have to go to the county council, as the data controller, to retrieve footage and video evidence. That does not make sense and we need to have a ministerial directive, or something else, that cuts through that in the interest of the common good and public safety. A council building could be closed on a bank holiday Monday and a crime could be committed on Friday night but gardaí would have to wait until Tuesday morning to access footage. That does not make sense in any world or any walk of life and I ask the Minister to look into that issue.

Another opportunity is town and village regeneration. There is still dereliction and vacancy right across the country. It is still not being dealt with. Passive surveillance is such a brilliant way of tackling and addressing crime and antisocial behaviour in towns and villages. There needs to be a conversation around that between the Department of Justice and the Department of local government and housing to make sure there are regulations that encourage over-the-shop developments and that there is deregulation to allow for that but that they are safety conscious from a fire point of view. It is powerful to have people on the ground, monitoring and keeping an eye on the town centre, so that it is not quiet and dead in the evening but that there is activity and vibrancy.

My final point concerns the proliferation of vaping shops in towns and villages across the country. There are multiple examples in County Mayo of vapes and candy being sold together. It is disgusting and is not positive from any point of view. It has so many antisocial knock-on effects, so the Minister should do whatever he can do within his power. There is a loophole that vaping and candy can be advertised and sold together on high streets. Some of these are heritage streets. It is totally out of kilter in terms of what we are trying to do about town regeneration. If the Minister has powers and means within his office and Ministry to address that, it would be most welcome across the board. I would really welcome his consideration of that and if he could put some effort into this issue because this is brought up at grassroots level and by councillors right across the country. It would be really welcome if this issue was addressed.

An Leas-Chathaoirleach: I understand Senators Nicole Ryan and Maria McCormack are sharing time, with five minutes each. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Senator Maria McCormack: I thank the Minister for coming back to us. I welcome that he will look at sentencing. The family of Joe Drennan lives in my constituency. Joe Drennan was a 21-year-old fourth-year student in journalism who lost his life by someone with 46 previous convictions. I quote his dad in the court, who asked whether that person would not serve one day for killing his son. I would welcome the opportunity for the Minister to speak to this family. Overall, we need to look at concurrent sentences, and where a fatality is involved, sentences should not run concurrently.

Community safety is an issue that affects every town, village and rural community in Ireland. It is the right of every person to feel safe in their own home, in their streets, in their workplaces and in public areas. Yet, across the country, including in my county of Laois, too many people no longer feel that sense of security, whether it is businesses in Portlaoise facing vandalism, rural families experiencing home break-ins, or elderly residents in Portarlington who just this weekend have been in contact with me, afraid to open their doors at night. The message is clear. We must do more our communities safer.

While increased Garda numbers and resources are critical, policing alone is not the answer. We need to be proactive rather than reactive. This is where crime prevention through environmental design, CPTED, comes into play. It is a proven evidenced-based approach that reduces crime by designing safer workspaces. This is a resource that is not currently being utilised to its full ability. I have talked in detail to our crime prevention officer about this. It is a resource that could really make a difference in crime prevention, community safety and our community. It is not just about security cameras or stronger policing. It is about smart urban planning that makes crime harder to commit. It is about better street lighting to deter antisocial behaviour; well-maintained public spaces that promote community pride and reduce opportunities for criminal activity; natural surveillance through urban design, ensuring sightlines are clear so there are no hidden areas for crime to take place; and secure, accessible infrastructure, including proper pedestrian routes, well-lit carparks and safer residential layouts. We have seen successful examples of this across the world, where simply improving the built environment leads to significant reductions in crime and antisocial behaviour. Why are we not embedding this into our development plans in Ireland?

If we are serious about crime prevention, we must give communities the power and resources to design safer spaces. This means requiring all housing estates and public developments to integrate CPTED principles; investing for urban design for town centres, including safer public transport hubs, parks and pedestrian areas; and providing grants to community groups for local safety initiatives such as CCTV, improving lighting and crime deterrent programmes.

In Laois, we already have strong neighbourhood watch and community alert groups and we have excellent community policing, but there needs to be real funding and support. CPTED should be a key part of local government planning and strategies, ensuring safety is designed into the community rather than being an afterthought. For rural communities, crime prevention is often a challenge due to isolation and a lack of Garda presence. In places like Ballyroan and Stradbally, we hear of farms being targeted for theft, of illegal dumping and of people left feeling vulnerable. CPTED can play a role here too, with better road layouts, strategic lighting and CCTV in key rural areas. These measures, alongside strong Garda resources and rural crime task forces, can protect our vulnerable communities. In urban areas like Portlaoise, we must address drug-related crime and antisocial behaviour with a combination of policing, youth engagement and safer public spaces. We know that poorly designed urban areas contribute to crime. Abandoned buildings, poorly lit streets and neglected parks become hotspots for illegal activities. Revitalising these spaces can make them safer for all.

Community safety is not just about crime statistics; it is about the people. It is about the woman fleeing domestic violence who finds no available refuge bed. It is about the child in an area where gangs and drugs seem more accessible than opportunities. We need more investment in domestic abuse services, youth intervention and education programmes, and a national strategy on urban design and community. I would welcome all of these.

An Leas-Chathaoirleach: The Minister of State, Deputy Collins, is replacing the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan. I now move to Senators Nessa Cosgrove and Patricia Stephenson on behalf of the Cross-Party Group. I understand they are sharing time.

Senator Nessa Cosgrove: People have the right to feel safe in their communities but they also have the right to thrive in their communities. I worked as a youth worker for more than 20 years. No young person wakes up in the morning and decides they will commit a crime. No young person decides throughout their life that they will become an addict. Crime cannot be treated in isolation. Years of underinvestment in front-line youth services and community-based services have led to this. I think the community policing model worked. Senator Duffy said this as well. I would love to see a move back to the community policing model. When I started in youth work more than 20 years ago, there was always a community garda presence, and that seems to have been eradicated over recent years.

We need to look at the whole area of drug use.

That is the elephant in the room when we talk about crime. There was an important citizens' assembly on the use of drugs and taking a health and social education model to drug use. We need to start looking seriously at the decriminalisation of drugs and the users of drugs...

[Click here for the full debate on the Oireachtas website]