Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)

Can the Taoiseach explain why in the Ireland of 2004, which his Government has had a considerable influence in shaping, a number of young men are so brutalised, twisted and mentally damaged that they will savagely murder a rival gang member while his child and partner sleep beside him under the roof of his mother, as happened this week in west Dublin? Why will such young men savagely slaughter an innocent man, a father of two, as he flees from them, as happened two weeks ago? How can such people leave a 74 year old pensioner, Mr. William Barkley from Donegal, in the revolting and appalling condition depicted in today's Evening Herald? Why, after almost eight years, has the Taoiseach allowed a situation to develop whereby the brutal murder of gang members is often greeted by ordinary, decent people, the backbone of those communities, who are frustrated, angry and fearful, with relief that there is one less individual to terrorise the neighbourhood and pose a danger to them and their children?

The Government policy has failed miserably to use the unprecedented resources available to transform those working-class neighbourhoods, still criminally neglected even if they are in the shadow of opulent new apartment blocks and the glass towers of major corporations. Life for many of the predominantly good people in these communities is fraught with tension and insecurity. Why has the Government failed in its policy to engage with that cohort of young people, a small minority, who are clearly dysfunctional from an early age and represent a serious menace to their neighbourhoods and communities?

The Government has failed to provide the resources to bring this about and it continues to do so. What genius in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform thought that the people of west Dublin would believe it a solution to throw up a few Garda checkpoints in their estates and have gardaí walking through the estates with horses? The problem is not confined to west Dublin. My Independent colleagues represent constituencies with many of the same needs. What is required are emergency resources in education, social services and psychological services to intervene dramatically to prevent this occurrence. Provision of emergency resources in community development to empower communities to take control of their neighbourhoods is the key.

How does the Government think that Blanchardstown, a city, so to speak, of 70,000 people, can be covered by a handful of community gardaí? Does the Taoiseach not realise that what people demand is not high profile stunts but large numbers of community gardaí working side by side with local people under the direction of local representative organisations? That is what is critically needed. I want to hear the Taoiseach's response on this matter. The position I outlined is not only the case in parts of Dublin, it also pertains in many neighbourhoods, cities and towns throughout the country and also in rural communities.

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