James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses to the committee. The purpose of our engagement this evening relates to the arson attacks. We heard from the Hope and Courage Collective a few minutes ago. The witnesses are probably aware that the collective is a group that does advocacy in this area. It disseminates information and combats some narratives. We now turn our examination to engagement with representatives from An Garda Síochána. I welcome Dr. Shawna Coxon, deputy commissioner, and Ms Angela Willis, assistant commissioner. They are both familiar with the committee. I think we met Dr. Coxon at Templemore. I thank her for hosting us that day. Ms Willis was with us to address recent matters, including the Dublin riots. I thank her for coming before us again to address this important topic.

The witnesses will be familiar with the system but I will recap about how we operate. I will invite them, on behalf of their organisation, to make a brief opening statement. When they have done that, we will go around the committee, with six minutes per member to ask questions of the witnesses. It is a six-minute block, including both the witnesses' answers and members' questions, then we move on to the next member, so everyone gets a fair crack of the whip.

I call Dr. Coxon to deliver the opening statement on behalf of An Garda Síochána. She is very welcome.