Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I, too, want to be associated with the remarks about the late Tras Honan, somebody whom I knew well. Long before I was elected to this House, I got to know her and I served with her on a number of committees. She was a forthright and brilliant woman, a wonderful character. She had a very insightful mind. There will be an opportunity, I am sure, here for us to express sympathies in greater detail when her family are present.

I join with others in expressing revulsion at the horrific knife attack that saw three children and their teacher stabbed last Thursday. Of course, our thoughts and prayers are with those victims and their families for the trauma they have suffered.

I condemn the action by those who, for their own warped ideology, used social media to whip up a rioting mob of criminals, thugs and petty thieves who wreaked havoc on Thursday evening on this city. Tens of millions of euro of damage was done to public and private property with the looting of shops, burning of buses, cars and Luases. It was really an appalling thing to do. It has damaged the image of Dublin and Ireland abroad.

As that revulsion and anger dissipates, it is our responsibility as politicians to look back analytically to establish the facts as to how control was lost last Thursday evening and why that control was lost. I speak to gardaí all the time in my role as a public representative and I spoke to gardaí at the weekend. Quite frankly, many gardaí are afraid to use their judgment call on the use of force. That is, in my view, deeply disturbing. They are afraid to use their discretion. They are afraid that it will come back to haunt them at a later stage. They do not believe that the Garda Commissioner has their back in those circumstances. For example, in 2020, there was a case in the mid-west which started as, we understand, a major internal investigation into allegation of corruption. It is now largely and principally whittled down to allegations of discretion or the misuse of discretion in relation to fixed penalty notices. Four gardaí and another one who has retired are before the courts. Five gardaí are suspended. No specific allegations have been made to them in relation to what wrongdoing they are suspended for. No charges have been brought. No disciplinary actions have been taken. In the views of some, this response is not proportionate to the allegations that are made and could have been dealt with by disciplinary procedures. It has dragged on for three years. This has had a traumatic effect on the lives of those gardaí but, over and above that, it has had a chilling effect on gardaí all over the country.

Gardaí were afraid last Thursday evening to draw their batons to protect themselves and others and to protect public and private property because they were afraid of being reprimanded at a later stage. In my view, that is breathtaking and deeply disturbing. They do not believe that the most senior police officer in the State has their back when things get difficult for them. If this is the new culture in An Garda Síochána - and, for sure, we needed to change culture - we have gone from bad to worse. Having listened to gardaí for the past couple of years and having analysed closely the failures of last Thursday, it is my view that it is time for a new Commissioner to be appointed. In order to rebuild confidence in the membership and develop policies and plans to tackle the challenges that confront the State right now, it is imperative that a new Commissioner is appointed.