Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome all the witnesses. It is unfortunate that we have tried to cram so much into this session as we could probably devote several hours to each individual topic in and of its own right.

The aspects relating to the policing of Dublin city perhaps overlap to a certain degree with morale and the visibility of the organisation. We are all agreed that the visible presence of Garda members on the street is pretty much what everybody is looking for. From the sense of it, that is what the Garda are also looking for, as well as that they are appropriately trained and equipped, as outlined by the witnesses in the submissions.

I find some of the submissions on the policing of Dublin city have a couple of omissions in them. There is a lot of talk about illegal drugs but there is no mention of alcohol, which is a much bigger contributor to crime and antisocial behaviour and to a lack of safety in Dublin city centre and yet that never seems to get mentioned at all.

I also completely reject the idea that social housing in the city centre is a cause of crime. I say that because due to the decanting of residents and redevelopment by Dublin City Council, there is probably less social housing in the city centre. At a time there is less social housing in the city centre and we are claiming crime rates are going up, how can social housing be a cause of crime in the city centre? I find that quite offensive to the residents of those social housing complexes.

Equally, if the members of the RAI are very concerned, do not feel safe and believe that things are not going the right way, are they reporting this? Mr. Gallagher said his organisation has to be economic in this regard so as not to waste Garda time, but is he reporting these issues because when this is put to the Garda Commissioner, he points to the recorded figures, which show that assault in public places, for example, are on a downward trajectory. Which is it? Are these incidents being reported? Are the numbers wrong? Is people's sense of safety wrong?

In terms of the aspects of the protest, for me it is not just about protest. We can talk about protest and the legitimate right to protest but many of the concerns expressed are about simple harassment and intimidation. Libraries across the country have been targeted and subjected to harassment and intimidation rather than protest. It is the same thing that the Garda are experiencing in regard to cameras and social media put in members' faces and violence and threats? We have seen the same with vaccination centres around the country. I am deeply concerned that teachers in schools are going to be next. If we are sitting back and not doing anything when these people arrive into libraries, how are schools to know that they are going to be safe?

One of the comparisons that is quite frequently made is with the court-ordered evictions and the treatment of the Debenhams workers compared to people who are actively engaged in violence and harassment who do not seem to warrant any response. I appreciate that much of this should perhaps be aimed at senior management. I cannot remember which submission mentioned that this was an issue of direction and policy guidelines. What is the difference? What is it that makes the Debenhams workers receive a very strong and robust response whereas those who are actively travelling around the country harassing and intimidating people seem to get no response whatsoever?