The presentation to courts of Garda videos of people coming out of public houses "legless" is being proposed by the Minister for Justice in order to combat public order offences.
He will also seek the imposition of financial penalties on people given the benefit of the Probation Act when charged with such offences.
Mr McDowell outlined these measures at the publication of a report, Public Order Offences in Ireland, by the National Crime Council yesterday. The report was compiled by the Institute of Criminology in UCD.
He said there was a heavy responsibility on those who sold alcohol, and they would face closure if they allowed excessive drinking on their premises.
He said he expected implementation of the legislation prohibiting the sale of alcohol to people already intoxicated.
To combat this, he proposed that gardaí present videos in court of people leaving public houses. If this showed that they were "legless", it should lead to a period of closure, he said.
He also said he was considering introducing mandatory evidence of age for people buying alcohol. However, he was opposed to everyone having to carry ID cards, as happened in every other EU member-state except the UK.
"There is unequalled respect and affection for the police force here. You would transform that if they could stop people at random and ask for ID," he said.
Referring to a finding in the report that many public order offences were dismissed or struck out by the courts, he said that this arose where the same incident often gave rise to three or four charge sheets. One would be proceeded with, and the remainder struck out.
The report also found that a high number of offenders got the benefit of the Probation Act, where they were found guilty on the facts, but avoided the stigma of a criminal conviction.
Mr McDowell said it was desirable that young first offenders did not have convictions recorded against them, but they should make some contribution to society and to the expense of their prosecution.
He would introduce a measure in the new courts legislation so that they would be liable for some of this expense.
Asked if he felt safe walking down O'Connell Street, the Minister replied emphatically: "Yes. I don't accept O'Connell Street is dangerous. I frequently do walk down it, and down Grafton Street. The survey does not show that O'Connell Street is extremely dangerous. Most people who use it don't have any problem at all.
"It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy if people abandon the streets to disorderly elements."
He reacted angrily to a question as to whether people had confidence in his ability to deal with crime. "Some commentators may not have, but they should inquire of the public if they have confidence in me," he said. "They have confidence in me to carry out policies that are sane and well balanced and based on serious research."
Asked about the report's finding that members of the Garda were fearful in certain public order situations, he said: "They are human like the rest of us. They would be robocops if they did not worry about their safety. That's why the public has to support the gardaí."
The chairman of the National Crime Council, Mr Padraic White, said this research was the first to be undertaken in Ireland on the subject. It included examining all the available data, as well as accompanying gardaí in policing public order incidents over a six-month period.
However, he added that there was a need for more research to examine the scale and consequences of this type of offending.