Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I too want to be associated with the words of sympathy to Tras Honan's family. It was great to have her in our presence last year when we were celebrating the centenary of the Seanad. I extend my sympathies to all her family and friends.

Like so many others who live very close to the inner city of Dublin and who know many who attend the school and crèche where the young kids were caught up in the stabbing, we have been shattered by the events and the horror that was inflicted on those kids lining up, a routine that has happened every day of the school week for more than 20 years. I pay tribute in particular to the bravery of the crèche worker and to those who came to their aid. The irony of last Thursday is that an immigrant came to the aid of those children and the crèche workers who were trying to protect life in the face of attack.

Then there were the events of Thursday night and the wanton destruction of our city. That destruction of our city endangered the lives of bus drivers, Luas drivers and firefighters. Many retail and hospitality staff were intimidated and trapped in their workplaces for many hours. It also endangered the livelihoods of many going into this Christmas period. We owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the front-line gardaí who found themselves having to deal with that absolutely horrendous situation. I know gardaí who were off duty or on annual leave came from right around the country and responded to the call for help. It is a miracle that no one was killed.

What happened last Thursday night was a failure at the very top of An Garda Síochána to read the signs that have been there for many months. We have seen what happened in Finglas with the mob at the Garda station last February; the burning out of tents; what is happening in libraries in Cork and across the country; and indeed outside our own door in Leinster House a few weeks ago. I was on Parnell Square myself at 3 o'clock last Thursday and it was obvious then that there was going to be something very ugly that night. It was tense then. It was ugly by 3.30 p.m. and we knew that when darkness fell things would really take off.

There was a failure to properly resource An Garda Síochána. There was also a failure by the Government on Thursday night. For many months we have sat and watched one Government party take a lump out of another Government party with regard to policing in this country. We will do so no more. It is a whole-of-government failure in terms of how we resource An Garda Síochána with money, pay, and boots on the ground. In the Dublin north-central area, the number of gardaí now is 10% lower than what it was back in 2018. An Garda Síochána is running to stand still with regard to recruitment. The target numbers now are the same as what they were 17 years ago, yet the population has grown by 22%. That is an insane situation. There is a failure to properly resource community policing. We have had so many sweet words about the need to have community policing in place, yet when I look at the numbers, there were 71 community police in the north-central area in 2020 and there are only 29 now. That is a failure both for the top of An Garda Síochána but also the Government.

I am glad to see that we are having a debate tomorrow night, but that debate is not where it is at; there needs to be accountability. We have seen for many months, and Senator Clonan talked about the signs that evidently have been very there, what was going to happen. Last Thursday night was waiting to happen. It is a miracle that no lives were lost but we need to see changes because the people of Dublin are heartbroken at what happened and they will not tolerate this laissez-faireapproach to policing any more. They want police on their streets. They do not feel safe and they want a visible policing presence in order that we can ensure that tourists and those living here can feel safe in our capital city.