John Gormley calls for action to deal with graffiti problem
John Gormley raised the issue of graffiti vandalism in the Dáil today. Below is the full text of his speech on the issue.
THE NEED FOR THE MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE MINISTER FOR JUSTICE TO INTRODUCE THE NECESSARY LEGISLATION AND PROGRAMMES TO DEAL WITH THE INCREASING PROBLEM OF GRAFFITI VANDALISM
A Cathaoirleach,
I would like to thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to raise the issue of graffiti vandalism, a problem which is becoming worse by the day in Dublin city and elsewhere. From previous Parliamentary Questions I have put down on this issue, it would appear that the Government does not have a coherent strategy to deal with this issue. Local authorities are only now becoming aware that there is a serious problem, but they simply do not have the resources or, indeed, the legislation to tackle it properly.
Anyone who has visited capital cities throughout Europe will know that graffiti vandalism is a huge problem in Paris, Berlin, Rome – beautiful cities which have been defaced by these graffiti vandals. Interestingly, London does not appear to have the same problem nor indeed does New York, a city I visited last week for the UN Conference on AIDS. Surely, it would not be too much of a problem for this government to look at how the New York authorities or, indeed, the authorities in New South Wales in Australia, dealt with graffiti. The USA is one of the most progressive countries when it comes to anti-graffiti initiatives. Some of their innovative approaches include providing incentives for citizens to use protective coating to minimise the damage caused by graffiti, revoking graffiti offenders’ driving licences, banning the sale of spray paint to minors, banning the possession of spray paint in public places and, of course, the rapid removal or painting over graffiti once it is discovered. Their graffiti solutions programme builds on deterrence and law-enforcement and focuses on prevention, harm minimisation and the removal of graffiti.
It would appear that we have no specific graffiti offence in Irish law. Nor has the Minister any intention to introduce any specific legislation. We have been informed by the Minister for Justice that the Criminal Damage Act 1991 and the Litter Pollution Act 1997 cover the offence of graffiti, but it is not at all clear how many people were actually convicted for graffiti vandalism last year. The Minister for Justice has informed the House that people were convicted for damaging or defacing property, that there were 1,702 convictions – how many were for graffiti vandalism? We are also told that there was one conviction under the Litter Pollution Act 1997 – again, was this for graffiti vandalism?
Minister Roche, in reply to a Parliamentary Question, has said that he considers this legislation totally adequate. If this is so, why have we seen an upsurge in graffiti throughout this city? We cannot afford to underestimate the extent of this problem. This is not some harmless activity. Householders and shopkeepers have to remove the graffiti and it costs a considerable amount of money. On Dame Street, for example, I know the owner of The Pen Shop has had to remove graffiti from his windows and stonework on at least three occasions. Not only that, but graffiti gives rise to a sense of urban blight and lawlessness.
New South Wales had legislation dealing with property offences but they felt it necessary to introduce specific graffiti offences. For example, damaging and defacing property by means of spray paint, without reasonable excuse, the proof of which lies with the person, attracts a maximum fine of 2,200 Australian dollars or imprisonment for six months or a period of community service work. It is also an offence for a person to have spray paint in their possession with the intention that it should be used to damage or deface premises or other property.
Graffiti removal costs money. Around 17 billion dollars a year is spent in the United States on the removal of graffiti and I suspect if we calculated the cost here it would be considerable and it is often borne by individual householders and shopkeepers. It is not good enough for the government to continue to put its head in the sand on this issue. This evening I would like to suggest a number of steps that we could use to deal with graffiti vandalism:
- We need specific legislation introduced by government to deal with the offence of graffiti vandalism.
- The Gardai need to have a special unit as in many police forces in the United States to deal with graffiti vandalism.
For example, in New York they have the GHOST unit, the Graffiti Habitual Offender Suppression Team, which gathers information using digital cameras and there should also be rewards as in the United States for tip offs in relation to taggers. Community service orders for individuals caught defacing property with graffiti should include provision that they remove graffiti in a certain area.
Local authorities must be allocated sufficient resources and a system put in place for the quick removal of graffiti in public and private property and there should be a graffiti hot-line to report graffiti immediately so that it can be dealt with quickly. We need a graffiti strategy that involves the Gardai, Dublin City Council, the Chamber of Commerce, Residents’ Associations, etc.
Finally, there are those that say certain graffiti amounts to artistic expression. If this is so, then we can always make available certain parts of the city where blank walls can be made available to those who want to express themselves. However, I would say, that much of what I witness does not amount to artistic expression – it is quite simply vandalism.