Minister for Justice Helen McEntee admits there is ‘more aggression’ in Dublin
Justice Minister Helen McEntee
More than 12,000 people have been arrested in Dublin city centre since January, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has revealed.
Minister McEntee and Minister of State for the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Emer Higgins, met with members of the Department of Enterprise’s Retail Forum in Dublin this week.
“What we’ve seen is a particular challenge, particularly post-Covid, around thefts,” Ms McEntee told NewsTalk radio after the meeting.
“There may be many different reasons why we have less cash in our shops, and there has been an increase in the theft of particular goods
“We’ve also seen a change in people’s behaviours, and, again, I would say post-Covid, people would recognise there’s more aggression out there.
“There are changed and challenging behaviours we hadn’t seen before.”
Ms McEntee added there has been a “shift” within urban centres, with more people working from home creating a “different dynamic” in our cities.
She went on to say that gardaí had listened to retailers’ concerns and implemented a “specific garda operation” to address the issue.
“It’s working on the basis that 40pc of this retail crime is committed by about 8-9pc of people,” McEntee said.
“So, if you target and identify those individuals, you’re almost halving the crimes in our shops.”
Minister McEntee highlighted a 20pc increase in prosecutions over the past year and said 12,100 individuals have been arrested in Dublin city centre since January, with €20m worth of drugs seized.
“I’m getting really positive reports from gardaí about changed behaviour, about aggression de-escalating when they see cameras being put on,” she said.
“People being convicted because we now have, for the first time, very clear evidence of crimes that have been committed.”
