Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

In the aftermath of the dreadful events in Manchester, are there plans for a national intelligence agency? What would be the cost of such an agency? We are all aware that many reports are being produced and that many commissions are working on various elements of An Garda Síochána. Is this one of the issues that will be examined?

Deputy Enda Kenny, as the outgoing Taoiseach, may be very well placed to offer some insights, in the context of his experience as Taoiseach, into what would be the optimum. We hear a lot of dissatisfaction being expressed about how protected Ireland is. We hear suggestions of inadequate resources at various points at ports and airports. In my constituency and most of the Leinster region there is a very high number of people from other countries, which is very good. We also know that we have a very significant Libyan population living in Ireland. There should be more focus on integration, particularly of young people, in schools and colleges and, in particular, our efforts to ensure they do as well as possible in the school system and will also have opportunities to engage in further education and employment. Otherwise, we could end up with people with great hopes but who are left outside our systems, as happens in other countries. Therein lies the danger.

See this speech in context