Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

The questions I want to ask are designed to elicit facts. The Garda is to be commended for preventing the circumstances from becoming even worse. This must be acknowledged.

Bearing in mind that the Minister mentioned Cabinteely Garda station and other stations far from the city centre, is it not the case that gardaí were drafted in at very short notice from Carlow, for example? Within what radius did the authorities search for available gardaí? I met some of the walking wounded near their stations in Santry on Saturday night and suggested to them Santry was far from the city centre, but they stated gardaí had to be drafted in from as far away as Carlow.

The Minister has mentioned there was no prior notice in the Garda reports of a riot being in preparation. This is somewhat contradictory, given that litter bins in the city centre were sealed at the weekend, presumably to prevent the placement of litter bin bombs, for example. I appreciate the benefit of hindsight in stating various building materials in the city centre should really have been removed and that the city council had a job to do in that regard. Was there a breakdown in this matter or was the information available only partial? If sealing litter bins was considered wise, why was the ammunition on the building site not removed?

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