Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I express my solidarity and that of my party with the people of the inner city of Dublin who perceive themselves to be under siege because they are under siege. The first duty of everybody here for the people who feel like that in their own communities is to understand that this House and every Member in it not only stands with them but is determined to solve the problems they face.

I listened with some care to the Taoiseach’s words. It is our common analysis that crimes and feuds like this do not exist in a vacuum. There are criminal gangs based in our city and country, and some based offshore, who thrive like parasites on the deprivation and desperation of communities like this. Words are not enough today. There need to be two approaches. One is immediate, and we are agreed on that, which is a policing response that is intelligent and effective. It worked in the past in Limerick and other places when there was solidarity across this House in the mid-1990s when Ruairí Quinn brought in the Criminal Assets Bureau, CAB, legislation. We were determined to do whatever was necessary. We need the people of the north inner city to hear that absolute sense of unity and purpose today.

Second, in respect of the social disadvantage that Deputy Adams and others have spoken about and to which the Taoiseach has responded, what specifically are we going to do? I have great faith-----

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