Assistant Garda Commissioner Angela Willis has pledged 48 new recruits for Dublin as Tánaiste Micheál Martin said "certain areas" of the city "are not safe to traverse at night".
Speaking at a media event at the Curragh Barracks, the Fianna Fáil leader said "basically speaking Dublin is safe". However, he admitted "there are concerns" about some areas.
Mr Martin condemned the "vicious attacks" that have happened in Dublin city in recent weeks, including the attack on a US citizen on Talbot Street last week.
Stephen Termini was attacked on Dublin's Store Street and remains in intensive care at Beaumont Hospital.
Yesterday, a 14-year-old boy was charged with assault causing harm.
Mr Martin also rejected suggestions that gardaí are "invisible" and said officers are visible on the streets.
Asst Commissioner Willis, who has responsibility for the Dublin Metropolitan Region, said the new recruits will soon be deployed in the capital to increase the visibility of gardaí.
She made the comments at a meeting of the Dublin City Joint Policing Committee this afternoon, which focused on issues of anti-social behaviour in the city centre.
The regular bimonthly meeting took place in the wake of the assault on Mr Termini.
Asst Commissioner Willis, who said she could not comment on the case because it was before the courts, said 48 new gardaí will be allocated to the Dublin region in the next two weeks.
11 of the graduates from Templemore will be posted to the Dublin North Central Division and 10 to the Dublin South Central Division with the rest being deployed across the capital.
The assistant commissioner said the new gardaí will "all be put out on high visibility patrols" and she said "I do recognise that visibility does create that feeling of safety for people".
She said there will be another cohort of newly qualified recruits graduating in another 10 or 12 weeks and she said she "has a commitment from the Commissioner" that Dublin will get a significant number.
However, she also told the committee that high visibility on its own will not address the issues relating to anti-social behaviour in the capital.
Asst Commissioner Willis said there are a complexity of issues that exist in the city centre.
She also said that while An Garda Síochána is down on the numbers it would want to have in Dublin, she said the force in the capital is roughly on a par with the same numbers in 2018 but "in a much better place" than in 2017.
She noted that a lot of gardaí have been deployed to specialist units.
Meeting dominated by attack on tourist
A Sinn Féin councillor who attended the JPC meeting with Asst Commissioner Willis said the meeting was dominated by the attack on Mr Termini.
Daithí Doolan told RTÉ's Drivetime that the discussion as broad and comprehensive, with admission from the Assistant Commissioner who recognised that "we can't police our way out of this".
He said garda resources are only back to 2018 levels, and that there needs to be a full reversal of cuts made in the austerity times of 2008 and 2009 in terms of the numbers of gardaí in the capital.
The Assistant Commissioner agreed there is no point in pushing incidents of crime from one street or community to other, he said, but he pointed out there are certain communities that need extra help, support and resources.
4% drop in gardaí in north inner city
Earlier today, Lord Mayor of Dublin Daithí de Róiste said there has been a 4% drop in gardaí working in stations in Dublin's north inner city since the start of the year.
It is one of 27 garda divisions which has experienced a reduction in front line numbers since January.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr De Róiste said there is a perception that Dublin is unsafe.
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"For my part, I believe Dublin is a safe city in the main and we are always going to have instances, but the perception of Dublin is that it is unsafe at the moment, that we do have a lot of anti-social behaviour on the streets.
"We see these instances in recent weeks about what's happening and I'm saying it's simply not good enough and we need an urgent response to address this."
Mr De Róiste, who is also chair of the Dublin City Joint Policing Committee, said there were 615 gardaí last month in the Dublin north central division, which has one of the highest crime rates in the country.
However, he said, that is 24 fewer gardaí than at the start of the year, which he said is "a real, real issue".
He said that while new gardaí are qualifying, just as many are retiring or leaving the force.
"There are 222 recruits being sworn in but that's versus 150 that have retired and 59 that have resigned so there is a net increase of about 13 guards. We need a lot more to make Dublin a much safer place," he said.
