Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This morning, in broad daylight, our capital city witnessed yet another barbaric gangland shooting and murder when Gareth Hutch was brutally murdered on North Cumberland Street. Over the past 100 days, seven men have been murdered in our capital city. I condemn in the strongest possible manner the callous and brutal murders that are taking place and I am sure everybody in the House would agree. The situation is out of control.

Last Thursday, I met with various groups representing the north inner city, from the Inner City Organisations Network, ICON, to the Community Policing Forum to the North Inner City Drugs Task Force. They spoke about a community that was under siege and under-resourced in terms of dealing with the fundamentals of this problem, of both the immediate implications of this particular gangland feud and wider issues that underpin this and give rise to its continuance within their community. They are saying intimidation is rife across the community and that young people are getting up to €200 for the distribution of tablets, which is now the main drug form in the area in terms of various medicines and so on. The incentives for young people to get involved in this drug trade are enormous and it is very challenging for other young people to combat that and to send them in a different direction. There is a fundamental disregard for human life and for our community.

These groups are saying to us that they feel the supports that were put in from the late 1990s onwards have been eroded over the past number of years. For example, the young people's development and facilities fund is being undermined by Tusla as we speak and other kinds of supports that were steadily put in are being taken away from them.

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