Community safety wardens in Dublin city centre will not take on the duties of Gardaí, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said, amid concern over anti-social behaviour and crime in the capital.
Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, she emphasised the wardens' role is predominately about engagement.
"The community safety wardens engage with people in the area. They engage with people who might be hanging around. They engage with business members to identify what is going on. They engage with younger people.
"Their role is not to go up where an incident is happening or to intervene, their role is to engage with people in the area, to observe what is happening and to become known in the area.
"It is about understanding what is going on in the area and what more is needed. If something arises, they can alert the guards. We are not asking people to take up the role of the Gardaí," she said.
Ms McEntee added that the Local Community Safety Plan for Dublin North Inner City has been worked on for over a year now.
"It is actually the community themselves who have come together to identify what it is that they need and what it is they want for their community.
"There are about 51 different actions spread across five different areas that they again decided that they needed and wanted to be worked on."
Funding
The Minister vowed to allocate funds for the plan, comparing it to a similar initiative which had been put in place in Drogheda.
"What happened in Drogheda, where he had a lot of issues within the community for many years, was we put together in a very similar way a plan that was driven by the community.
"We have invested in everything from childcare to various different levels of education from primary, secondary and right up. You have investments in the various different drug facilities, family support facilities.
"There is no specific amount of funding because some of this work does not require funding. Some of this work [requires] a minimal amount of funding."
However, she noted to role of Gardaí is "hugely important", and added that increased visibility, targeted operations and community engagement will continue, in additional to working with Dublin City Council on matters such as lighting and refuse.
