Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all Senators for their contributions to this important debate and discussion on what happened last Thursday evening. I join again with colleagues in condemning this barbaric attack on a group of young and innocent schoolchildren and their carer. My wishes and thoughts are with the young girl and her carer, who are still critically ill in hospital. My wishes and thoughts are also with their families, the children who were there and the children who were in hospital and have been sent home, the school, the wider school community, and the many people who have been impacted by this event. I wish them well and wish the injured a recovery, as we all do. I commend, as many Senators have done, the passers-by who intervened. I have no doubt they saved lives. I commend the people who then came to their aid, who medically supported those children and who continue to protect and mind those children and their carer. We are all indebted to them. It is important to acknowledge the work they do day in, day out. As many have said, given the wider discussion we are having, many of those people were not born in this country and we would be lost without them.

I acknowledge that what ensued after that incident was appalling. A small group of people, many of whom were incited online and many of whom were on the scene, incited people to violence and hatred and to sow division in this country, our community and our capital city. They sought to create fear among people. The violence, vandalism, barbarity and attacks that ensued were appalling and something none of us ever thought we would see. Those who are responsible have to be brought to justice. They must be punished and face the full rigours of the law.

We also saw members of An Garda Síochána and our emergency workers, who responded to the scene and the violent scenes later on, respond in an effective, efficient and fast way. People can question afterwards why things were not done better and they will point out how they could have been done better. Things will be done better in the future and I have received an initial report from the Garda Commissioner outlining what happened that afternoon. I will receive a further detailed report and there will be lessons learned. I have no doubt there are things that can and should be done differently if this were to happen again.

I commend members of An Garda Síochána for the way in which they mobilised. We have never seen as many public order units mobilised together in this country. We saw more than 400 gardaí come together to respond to a violent mob, which, within a short time, was contained in a small part of the city centre, although the damage these individuals caused was horrendous. Nevertheless, they were contained in a small area and within a matter of hours, before midnight, what could have escalated into much more violent and potentially deadly scenes was contained and stamped out. I cannot commend members of An Garda Síochána enough. They came from outside the city centre and from all over the country when they were called on. Some gardaí who saw what was happening hopped into their cars and drove to Dublin to support their colleagues. That represents the best of what An Garda Síochána is and does.

We have had a lot of discussion on this. We need to separate what happened and the violent scenes on the night in question from the wider discussions about safety in our city. People were not safe in our city centre on Thursday night when nobody would go near the city centre because it was not safe.

More broadly, I have listened to colleagues in this Chamber, particularly to those who live in the city centre, and I have met community organisations and businesses, not just in Dublin but in Cork, Galway, Limerick, my county and smaller towns and villages. I have heard the concerns people have raised. My colleagues and I have listened to people who do not feel safe in this city, be it members of minority groups, women or people going about their work. It is for this reason that many actions have been taken in recent years and that I am focused on making sure we have as many gardaí as possible. While Covid meant the Garda College was closed to new recruits for two years, we now have a steady flow coming out of the college. Every three months, each new class has been larger and we will have another class by the end of the year. We can see momentum building and more people who want to join the ranks. Some 5,000 people applied in response to the most recent recruitment campaign and the next campaign will start in the new year. I am always told Christmas is not a good time to have a campaign. While there may be a soft launch before then, the campaign will open in the new year and will be complemented by a campaign to attract more members to the Garda Reserve to support the Garda in the work it does.

We have done a lot to try to ensure members are sustained and want to join. We have increased the age limit for applicants, from 35 to 50 years. We have increased by 66% the training allowance which applies to Garda members in the Garda College. We are increasing the retirement age to make sure we keep those who are experienced and want to stay on. We are investing more in technology and equipment and making sure gardaí have the tools, technology and supports for their mental health and well-being, given the types of scenes and incidents they have to respond to and the challenges they face on a day-to-day basis.

We need a greater presence on the ground. We have put in place Operation Citizen, which seeks to ensure we have a high-visibility Garda presence, and supplemented it with €10 million in additional funding to try to make sure we have as visible a presence on the ground as possible. We all know that when people see members of An Garda Síochána it makes them feel safe. Whether anything is going on or not, it is important to have a strong Garda presence. I have listened to shopkeepers and retail workers say we need to do more to protect them from those who rob them and from antisocial behaviour. I have been working with An Garda Síochána and retailers to make sure we can put an operation in place that specifically targets those prolific offenders who are causing so much damage in our city. We have a zero tolerance strategy to protect women who do not feel safe and victims of domestic and sexual violence. There are many actions in that, across many Departments, which have a sole focus and intention to make sure that women, children and anyone who is a victim of domestic or sexual violence, or of any type of assault, will be safe.

A huge amount of work is under way. The Garda budget has increased by almost one quarter in the past three years and will continue to increase. Many of the issues that the representative organisations have raised with me, including industrial relations matters, are being worked through. I want to see those issues resolved because all of this is important to make sure gardaí are supported and confident in the work they do. It is also important that communities are supported. In that regard, I mention the community safety partnerships, which we discussed recently when debating the policing Bill. This is about acknowledging that policing and safety are not just about policing. It is a role for the entire community, including all our services, Departments and agencies, working together and responding collectively to deal with the issues in our society and the communities that need to be lifted up by putting in place the supports and resources that are needed, be they health or educational supports, to ensure nobody is left behind. We need to address the root causes.

I agree with much of what Senator Ruane said, as I always do. There are many people in our society who are marginalised and feel they do not have the same access to supports or education as others. There are many people who are victims but they do not go out and loot, riot and attack members of An Garda Síochána.We have to acknowledge that. Yes, we have to get to the root causes of the challenges we face and what may cause people to do what they do. There are many people who do bad things who are not bad people. However, we cannot - cannot - look at what happened on Thursday and excuse it away. There is absolutely no excuse for it. I also want to say to Senator Keogan that her comments can be very dangerous, and they are dangerous.