Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

Last night, I visited St. James's Hospital and met the family of a young man who is in a coma having suffered brain damage and various fractures. The young man is gay and was coming from a gay establishment on Saturday night, when a gang set upon him. He was viciously beaten, was thrown over a railing into St. Audeon's Park and left for dead at 1 a.m. on Sunday. He was found at 9 a.m., was taken to hospital and is still in a coma. He had been assaulted a week previously and robbed by a group who were identified as gay bashers. The area is at the junction between a gay establishment on one side of the Liffey and a road coming up from the south side. It seems that there are a number of gangs operating around the area.

A young man is fighting for his life in hospital. We are not exactly sure of the extent of the damage that has been done to him. When I made inquiries, I found out that people coming from these establishments are regularly attacked by groups at a certain distance from the establishments where there are no CCTV cameras or lights. I raise this issue because it is time it was highlighted. Something must be done about it as it has been going on almost without being reported. The people in question are either afraid to report, they are embarrassed to report, or they do not believe that anything will be done about it. It represents a serious assault on citizens.

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform should take some significant action on this matter. This means extra patrols of gardaí. The area is patrolled by gardaí from Kevin Street and Pearse Street, but according to accounts, there is little actual patrolling. The gardaí are aware that this is happening and are the first to admit it, yet there is no significant patrolling to protect the people who are frequenting these establishments and who may be on their way home. This young man would normally look for a taxi on his way home to Crumlin.

We need extra resources in this area. We need minority specialist liaison officers who can deal with the matter in the first instance. I know there are some who deal mainly with ethnic groups, but all minorities are subject to being targeted by certain hit groups. We are well aware of this group but we have not dealt with it. The Minister will have to look directly at the flash points that can be identified. They can be targeted with extra personnel, with CCTV cameras and it will be a deliberate decision to do it. We do not know the outcome of this young man's condition, which may yet end in absolute tragedy. Whatever happens, he will never be fully healthy again.

People engaged in homophobic crimes seem to be able to operate with reasonable impunity. I call on the Minister to take some specific steps. A programme will have to be put in place to deal with this particular insidious crime.

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