Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I fully appreciate the seriousness of the issue. I have witnessed pitched battles between rival groups in broad daylight, under the noses of the authorities. This should not happen. Communities need to be protected, and whatever action is needed to do that, we must invoke it early. Otherwise, we will not get support from the powers that be. They will ask what we are doing and what is happening next. They will ask whether we are protecting the communities and law-abiding citizens or just ignoring what is going on. There is a grave danger.

It is understandable that those who are not directly affected will not feel the same way about it. The points our guests have raised apply very strictly to the people who are directly affected. That is a breaking down of society and community at local level, and of the collegiality that has always existed in this country in both town and city, to the extent other forces have intervened in society and now control it. It is crazy.

I was not referring to the reinvention of the wheel but rather hoping to make the wheel stronger, better and more capable of dealing with the challenges that exist. The weight on the wheel is growing, and whether it is capable of withstanding that kind of pressure will remain to be seen. That is why I emphasise, from my experience in this area, that we need to achieve results in order to be able to show the people what we have done and are doing, and what has had an effect. Nothing succeeds like success.