Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

To conclude, I am glad that has been acknowledged but I am concerned about the repeated expression of the words "complex" and "difficult" in the discussion of and approach to this legislation. We are not reinventing the wheel. Many countries have safe access zones.

The World Health Organization, WHO, has done research on this subject. It is not like we are taking something brand new and we must be terribly careful about it because it is so complex. It is not that complex. Once we get the co-operation of all the players involved, especially An Garda Síochána, it should not be a complex matter. We already have, for example, laws like the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994, where gardaí can go up to people and tell them to stop what they are doing, not to stand somewhere and to move on. If the people concerned do not do so, they can then be arrested under the auspices of that Act. It cannot be so complex that it has taken us so long to do this. I will finish with that comment, and by repeating, as others have done, that there is an urgency for this legislation to come through. It sends out such a bad signal and it is having a chilling effect on what is already a fragile service, especially in parts of rural Ireland.