John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

While it is not easy to deal with such situations, we must take every opportunity to try to prevent the rise of racism and bigotry. I have no doubt that my constituency colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, is only too aware that such racial tensions exist in our society. However, rather than trying to calm the situation as should a Minister charged with justice and equality, he has chosen instead to mine what he knows to be a rich electoral vein. He is playing a very dangerous game. It may yield electoral results, but at what price? I do not believe the Minister, Deputy McDowell, is a racist — in his more enlightened moments he could well give a passable impression of a liberal. Not long ago, before he was in Government, he branded the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform as racist in an article he wrote for the Irish Independent.

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