Ms Anne Marie McMahon:

I thank the Senator for her questions. Policing protests is always a challenge but from our perspective, we take a very strategic approach. There is a risk assessment in advance of the protest and a continuous risk assessment methodology is applied throughout the protest as well. On some occasions, things may start peacefully but they may escalate or de-escalate and we have to be prepared to respond accordingly. As part of that risk assessment, we take into account things like the available intelligence, where the protest is taking place and the evolving and dynamic situation in which we often find ourselves. It is very often the case that we have to make time-critical decisions. These are decisions that are made on the ground by tactical commanders. We also have other operational commanders at strategic locations, depending on the size and scale of the protest and the numbers attending. I want to assure the committee that all of these decisions are made using our Garda decision-making model. In addition, our response is a proportionate one. In some instances, it is based on how the situation evolves but the strategy is always minimum direction and minimum engagement in terms of any kind of a forceful engagement. Such engagement is always only as a last resort and a decision made by the tactical commander on the ground.

In terms of engaging with vulnerable communities, ethnic minorities and others, we engaged extensively with NGOs on our delivery under Operation Faoiseamh. Those interactions were very helpful in terms of our response and formed a key part of the strategy. That engagement was very informative in terms of how we were able to network and engage with people at their time of greatest need. That was very much part of the empathetic and proactive approach we deployed.

We have seen an increase in domestic violence reports during the pandemic. In the early stage, the level was up by between 20% and 25%. Those figures have stabilised somewhat now. While the pandemic highlighted this problem, we also know from our own engagement and records that it is not just a problem of the pandemic. It also arises at holiday times, including bank holiday weekends and different times like that, when there are large groups of family and friends gathered together. While such occasions are, on the one hand, a time of celebration, there is always a downside to them. We are very attuned and sensitive to that. Certainly, in terms of lessons learned, which was mentioned several times this afternoon, one of the key lessons for us is the importance of that Operation Faoiseamh approach when Covid is gone and we return to normal life. Even in the normal setting, we still have a lot of very vulnerable people for whom times of increased intensity in terms of the family dynamic or whatever always have a downside. We are very attuned to that.