Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will not take as much time as I would like on this issue but I want to say a couple of things. I was actually on Parnell Square last Thursday when this happened. I heard the screams of the children outside Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire. It very quickly became apparent how much distress and panic there was on the street at the time. When the emergency services arrived, I saw the firemen, in particular, pinning down the man who was struck with the helmet by the Deliveroo driver. As a father of only six months, it was such a distressing event to see.

All of us, first and foremost, are thinking of the families who were struck that day by a mindless act, an act which was not predictable. To suggest otherwise is very unfair on the people who are expected to read the minds of people who are not predictable and who may have other difficulties that have caused them to behave in a certain way. It is appalling. The last speaker said that gardaí are there to protect us and that is exactly what I saw them doing on Parnell Square last week. They arrived at the scene and put order on it. They put protection in place although they were frustrated in that regard by a small element of people who came into town. Again, it has been suggested that this too was entirely predictable, as if there had not been similar calls on social media previously that did not turn out the same way. I do not accept the premise that this was all totally foreseeable and should have been predicted. Nobody is happy with how things got out of control. Nobody is happy with the fact that a small element, not all of whom are far right - there were a few people directing it but there was a criminal element too - took advantage of a situation. As has been said by others, the people who were targeted were the same first responders, the gardaí who attended at the scene and who were molested, abused, attacked and assaulted by people who will, I hope, face the full rigours of the law. It is not fair to say that it was predictable or that there should have been a huge stock of public order police sitting in vans around Dublin city centre in the event that calls from a small number of people would actually be responded to by people not from city centre Dublin. There has been an unfairness in the characterisation of this as involving only inner-city Dublin people because it did not; they came from other parts of Dublin and from other counties around the country as well. All of it has disgusted right-minded people and everybody is appalled by what happened. To then shift the burden of responsibility for that behaviour to the gardaí, the Garda Commissioner and the Minister is ridiculous. If a crime is committed that is not the fault of the people who are there to police crime and it is unreasonable to talk about it in those terms. It is far too easy to let those responsible off the hook. They bear responsibility for their behaviour and they will face the rigours of the law in that regard.

In terms of the answers, that is not easy either. One speaker said earlier that this has been ignored for so long but having worked with the Minister on this issue, I know that is patently untrue. Over a year ago, the Minister secured specific budgetary provisions for extra gardaí on the street, most of whom have gone to Dublin. She also secured specific provisions for civilians within An Garda Síochána in order to get gardaí out of stations and on the beat, where they want to be, solving crime and policing in the way they signed up to. In recent times, there has also been an extra allocation of over €10 million for gardaí in Dublin. These are reactions that came ahead of this and yet some people and parties seek to politicise this and make political gains from it. That is obvious and people see it for what it is.

I also want to comment on speeches in this House, from Members of this House, that have been, whether they recognise it or not, sympathetic to the elements who seek to sow the seeds of hate in this country. I refer to people who bolster the arguments of mindless idiots online, who propagate a narrative that is false, wrong and grossly unfair. I have to say, having spoken to friends of mine who look different to people who are ethnically Irish, that I would hate to be in their shoes. I cannot imagine how difficult it must be for somebody who sounds different or looks different in this Ireland, notwithstanding the fact that they contribute a great deal more to this country than many of our so-called native Irish people. The first step we need to take now is to make sure those people know they are wanted, welcome and part of our society. They are our friends, neighbours and work colleagues and we want them here. That is something that we must do, as well as making sure the streets are safe and that people feel safe on our streets. We need to address these issues and whatever way it is done, that message needs to go out very clearly to people who come here. The comment was made earlier that if they stopped helping us, providing assistance to our economy, working with us and taking on jobs, we would be in a very bad place. We need to send the message out to those people that they are part of our community and we welcome them as such.