Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

If we were in the situation any of these people were put in, God only knows how we would react. It is proven that any time these protocols have been adhered to, the operation has ended successfully. When they have not been complied with, for whatever reason, there has been an unsuccessful operation.

The protocols are not used on their own in these instances. I would not want the message to go from the Dáil that people are monitoring these protocols or that the Garda Síochána did not react quickly in any instance. I have seen the system it has set up to provide a rapid response once it receives a call. The difficulty is that the call is sometimes made after the bird has flown.

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