Crime:Young criminals should be ordered by the State to stay at home after dark and be tagged electronically if necessary, Fine Gael has declared.
Strongly backing United Kingdom-style anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs), FG TD Jim O'Keeffe said some areas have been turned into "no-go zones".
On-the-spot fines should be imposed on offenders or their parents, while increased fines should be imposed on those who sell alcohol to under-18s.
Spray paints should not be sold to under-18s, Mr O'Keeffe told the national conference in Millstreet, while those who caused criminal damage should be ordered to repair it within seven days.
"Binge drinking, threatening behaviour and vandalism are a growing concern for all our communities.
"But the gardaí and the courts lack the powers to curb this wide-ranging problem," said Mr O'Keeffe, the party's justice spokesman.
The party called for new sports and leisure clubs to be built in disadvantaged areas and for extra money to be spent on probation and youth services.
Under a Fine Gael-led government, Garda numbers would be increased to 14,000 "as an absolute priority" - though no date was set.
"The 2,000 extra gardaí infamously promised by both Government parties before the last election are largely still a figment of the Minister's imagination.
"No more than 300 extra members have been appointed. We are left with a police force that is stretched to its limits," Mr O'Keeffe said.
Criminals should be forced to compensate victims in all cases. "It's time to make criminals pay for the misery they cause to others.
Describing anti-social behaviour as "a modern day curse", Cork North Central TD Bernard Allen said it had cut the quality of life for tens of thousands of people.
Local authorities must play their part by dealing with derelict sites, properties in disrepair and eliminate graffiti from housing estate walls.
The Government should also have spent money on new, local sports clubs rather than on the Taoiseach's "obsessive" interest in a national stadium in Abbottstown.
