Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

First, I am pleased that Members finally are discussing these matters in the Dáil. It is of course not the first time, nor will it be the last, that issues of crime, criminality, gangland events and community safety have arisen in this House. They are ongoing issues and, as the Minister has acknowledged, they are a source of considerable distress and fear nationwide. This has been highlighted starkly in rural Ireland in recent months and years as Garda stations have been closed, Garda numbers have fallen and fear has been raised across the community. I acknowledge that this is a general problem across society and across the State.

I join with the Minister in commending absolutely An Garda Síochána on the work it does in difficult circumstances. However, I suggest to the Minister and to whomever might occupy her post in the near future that such work and commitment should not be used as an alibi or camouflage or as a diversion from the poor record of the Government, by which I mean that the service has not been resourced properly and, as has already been alluded to, Garda morale is on, and in some cases below, the floor. It is absolutely shocking and disgraceful that gardaí starting out earn an income that is barely above the minimum wage.

I was disappointed by the generality of the Minister's remarks. While she made reference to community, in the context of the recent occurrences in the north inner city of Dublin, which I represent, and in Clondalkin, on behalf of which Deputy Eoin Ó Broin undoubtedly will speak, I would have expected the Minister to have been more particular in her remarks. This is because, since 8 February, people in the north inner city have lived in a state of fear. There is no other way to put it. There have been three separate incidents, three shootings, three murders - one in Ballybough, one in Sheriff Street and one in Summerhill. When one talks to people who live in and have grown up in that community and who now are raising their own children, they will tell one they are fearful about walking to the shops, bringing their children to school and certainly about visiting any local pubs to have a drink in the evening. That is the current position. The discussion in this Chamber must work from that reality first and then build the response outwards from it. I discern no sense from the Minister of any real appreciation of that reality. Allow me to tell her what has happened in the inner city as regards policing. Since 2010, the number of uniformed officers in the north inner city has fallen by 140. This calamity is mirrored south of the river in the south inner city, where the number of uniformed officers has fallen by 160. The myth of doing more with less was the pretext of a range of cuts right across the public service. While Members heard it from the outgoing Government time and again, the reality is that at some point, this argument runs out of rope and out of steam. The obvious reality that one cannot do the same or more with 140 fewer uniformed officers becomes apparent, and in the case of the north inner city, this reality has played itself out in a gruesome fashion.

The Minister spoke of reviewing Garda stations and their closure, but Fitzgibbon Street Garda station has been closed since 2011 and, in a cruel twist of irony, it is the Garda station that would have been located closest to two of the shootings that have occurred within the inner city. None of this is lost on the community. As their representative, I do not believe its members want me to stand here rattling out statistics or figures; they expect me to reflect the human reality of the communities in which they live. If I might be so bold, I will tell the Minister what is needed. I suggest to her that a whole-of-Government approach be adopted to the specific communities in which these atrocities are happening. I request of the Minister and of the incoming Government that a task force approach be adopted for the north inner city. This approach has been used in other scenarios, cities and localities, but I make a particular pitch for the north inner city. Supports are needed for the community, and teachers and youth groups in the area will tell one that the children there are afraid. Are the Health Service Executive and the Government prepared to provide the resources for supports, including counselling, buddying or whatever might be necessary, for those small children who are living in an environment of fear? Will the Minister provide resources to the broader community sector that advocates on behalf of communities that have been marginalised for quite some time and largely forgotten? There is a community policing forum and a plethora of community organisations which intervene with young people at risk and with those who have got into difficulties with drug addiction and substance abuse. They all have one thing in common - namely, their resources have been cut. This is a disaster for the north inner city and I wish to know whether this will be reversed. Will the Minister agree to quantify the level of investment the community needs?

I appreciate that the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, needs tough powers in the criminal justice code to deal with these gangland gangsters. Of that there is absolutely no doubt, but critical legislation is also needed if we are to make the north inner city and other communities safer and if we are to get to grips with the scourge of drugs and their sale. That legislation relates to prescription medicines - the blister packs, the benzos and the sleepers. In the north inner city, that is the single biggest problem concerning the drugs trade; gardaí and the community tell us so. We find ourselves in a bind, however, because these are medicines. We are asking the Garda Síochána to resolve this issue and apprehend people who are selling these drugs, although gardaí essentially have both hands tied behind their backs. Will the Minister give a commitment that in the course of this Dáil, however long it may last, we will introduce legislation to remedy that situation, thus allowing gardaí to do their job and afford some breathing space to the communities that are affected?

I am an advocate of civil liberties; I believe in the rule of law and people's rights. In debating these matters, however, it is a mistake to imagine that in one corner there are civil libertarians and, in the other, there are those who wish to be tough on crime. I do not think that is the dynamic here at all. We all live in the real world, representing families and communities. The real division in this debate is between those who recognise that the policing service must be resourced properly, consistently and fully, and those who believe one must listen to Garda officers and communities at the front line in that regard, and others who simply deal in statistics. The latter group believes that one can somehow get away with repeatedly making arbitrary cuts, while running down conditions and funding for gardaí and community infrastructures. They hope that somehow the consequences of doing so will not come back to their door. That is where the division actually rests.

We can have all the tough legislation in the world but if gardaí are insufficiently resourced to do their job, then, frankly, that legislation simply amounts to words on paper. Gardaí tell us, quite correctly, that they cannot solve drug addiction because in many cases the root causes are so deep and complex. They are there to do their bit to keep the community safe, however. Rather than helping gardaí, whom the Minister lauds, in that task, the outgoing Government has in fact hindered and damaged their efforts.

I put the challenge to the Minister again, in general terms, for the incoming Administration to recruit and resource the Garda Síochána. She should come to the table with a willingness to listen and with a specific plan for the north inner city dealing with Garda resources. It should also acknowledge the massive damage that has been done by starving community infrastructure and initiatives of the cash, resources and personnel that are so desperately needed.

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