Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has said the "sole focus" of a plan to improve safety in Dublin's north inner city is to help people "not just to be safe but to feel safe" in their community.
The plan, which was launched this morning by Ms McEntee and Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe, sets out 51 actions to make the area safer following a spate of assaults there last month.
The initiative brings State agencies and community groups together to tackle things like drug dealing and anti-social behaviour.
It commits to having a strong garda presence in the area, and they will work with community groups to keep public spaces safe, including areas currently used for drug dealing.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Ms McEntee said gardaí will play a "huge role", but it is not just about policing she said.
"It's not just about more boots on the street - but there are clear actions in this plan for continued high visibility and continued engagement with the gardaí - the organisations on the ground, communities, businesses," she said.
"But you have other plans in place that will be developed here."
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the new plan to tackle crime is not just about boosting the garda presence.
Speaking in Co Cork, Mr Varadkar said the plan was to ensure that State and other agencies were all working together to make communities safer.
He said this involved local authorities, the HSE and the Department of Education, among others.
"The idea is to recognise that having a community, safe towns, safe streets is about the garda presence, but it's not just about the garda presence," Mr Varadkar said.
"You need the local authority working with other agencies like the HSE and, for example, Education, people all coming together to make sure that we are working together across Government and different bodies to make sure that our communities are safe."
Mr Varadkar insisted that crime rates in Ireland are "relatively low", and Irish cities are as safe as any European or American cities.
"That is not to say that crimes don't happen - they do happen. We need to make sure that we do everything to ensure that those crimes are prevented; if they happen that they (victims) are protected, but also to ensure that people feel safe and that sense of feeling safe and secure is very important too," Mr Varadkar said.
Ms McEntee also spoke about the built environment.
"There are plans afoot by Dublin City Council looking at lighting, street cleaning and working with businesses in that regard," she said.
"It's our shop fronts and facades, all things that feed into a feeling of not feeling safe."
The plan also includes an emphasis on integration and multi-faith inclusion.
She said money will be made available as the project develops.
She said €150,000 has been allocated to community safety wardens, while money has also been allocated to those working with people with drug addiction problems.
New programmes for repeat young offenders engaged in violent criminal behaviour will be provided by the Probation Service, Tusla and gardaí.
At the moment Dublin's north inner city is above the national average figures in terms of assaults, crimes against the person and property-related crime.
Warden role
Speaking at the launch, Ms McEntee said that the idea for community safety wardens in her three-year safety plan came from Northern Ireland.
"The idea of the community safety wardens came from, I suppose, a project that had been in place in the North and in Derry and the team here, I know, travelled to engage with them to see how they worked and how effective they've been there," she said.
"I suppose they have been effective and that's why they've been part of this plan."
She added: "The role of the wardens, I suppose, there's multiple elements to this. It's about being a presence in the city centre."
