Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise that I had to step out briefly. If I am asking questions and I am repeating what was asked earlier, I apologise for that. My first questions are addressed to the two retailers from Dublin. I spoke to people who work in Dublin city centre in the immediate aftermath of the incidents on 23 November. To a man and a woman, they told me they were not entirely surprised by what happened. It had been developing over a period of time there was a sinister culture emerging. Last summer, I met people who work in the city centre and they told me about difficulties with recruiting and with people literally walking away because they could not cope, not just while going to and coming from work but also in work which is at a completely different level. Were the retailers surprised by what happened? Was it a shock to them or did they feel like it was coming?