Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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Our guests are very welcome. I thank them for coming in. I do not wish to be repetitive but I want to touch on the points made by the witnesses from An Garda Síochána in respect of social responsibility. I do not want what I am about to say to be taken as a dismissal of that because, of course, gardaí do not put private cars on bicycle lanes or across driveways, among other things. There is a little bit of a hierarchy, however, in terms of the approach taken by members of An Garda Síochána, as I know will be admitted.

At certain times, certain things are just not a priority for good reasons. However, these are big issues. I have always said, as a parliamentarian for 11 years, that it is the little things that make people happy. Getting the council to fix a pothole - to be blunt - often makes them a lot happier than a €600 energy credit over the next six months. There is a need for social responsibility but, in equal measure, there is a need to take these matters seriously when it is possible to do so.

I want to stress the point about enforcement outside of schools. I am fortunate to live in Malahide where we had one of the first school street projects in the country, which is well over two years old. It was met with quite a bit of resistance along the way but it is up and running and is very successful. There has been being a massive increase in the number of children walking and cycling to school in Malahide, which I am thrilled to see. However, parking across driveways for 15 or ten minutes still causes issues on certain streets around schools. The core of Malahide is a couple of hundred years old, therefore, the houses are not young, which invariably means the age profile of the occupants of the houses is a little bit older. These issues are a big deal to them. It means they cannot get out of their homes. In general terms, not specifically Malahide, that hierarchy of approach needs to be looked at. If there are things we need to do in these Houses to support An Garda Síochána, we should do them. Everything we do in these Houses should support safer road usage and safer facilities for pedestrians and cyclists alike. We are getting to the point where we will be able to improve that across the board but, unfortunately, we are coming at it ten, 20 or even 30 years too late in certain instances. It is a cultural thing which we need to change. Covid lockdown was a great help in that process. While it was a tragic set of circumstances for thousands of families, it also gave us an opportunity to take stock again of certain things and that is something which we will all benefit from in the end.

I do not have specific questions for the members of An Garda Síochána other than to note that if we are going to do this together at Government, Oireachtas and local authority level, then when it is pointed out, it is like the nose on one's face. All members have mentioned reporting matters to the Garda when it is in front of them and one member mentioned that the garda drove off. While the garda may have been on an important job, the fact is we must acknowledge that these little matters are meaningful.