Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I take this opportunity to record my utmost concern at the ongoing situation in the US, as the Minister has done. The death of George Floyd has shocked and disgusted us all. Brutality should have no place in a modern society. Subsequent events, particularly the treatment of peaceful protesters, have compounded the problem. A quote from Dr. Martin Luther King comes to mind: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." The rights of peaceful protesters must be upheld. An Garda Síochána is at the heart of upholding the rights of those in the communities that its officers serve.

Our community gardaí do great work, much of it unnoticed. I thank the gardaí in my constituency in the community policing unit for their tremendous efforts, in particular during this pandemic. They led the way in the early stages when they helped vulnerable people get groceries and prescriptions. They also assisted with the excellent work of the community call service operated by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, with the assistance of sports clubs such as Cuala and other groups. I thank everyone involved in this superb community initiative.

One of the positives of the pandemic has been the increased Garda visibility across our communities. I hope this will continue throughout the summer. Covid-19 restrictions have been difficult, in particular for the cocooners. I wish to put on record our appreciation to them because they have had a very difficult few months. Equally, our young people have had to go through tough times, with no schooling, no examinations, no part-time work and so on. Many of them want only to hang-out with their friends and understandably so. However, since the easing of restrictions the public has witnessed large gatherings in parks, fields and open spaces. The Garda are doing their best to deal with this and the impact the continued restrictions are having must be considered by Government. Where possible, the Government should allow sports clubs to begin training again and to run summer camps as these provide vital activities for our young people. Shutting down activities for another two or three months is not acceptable. In my view, it would be a recipe for disaster. I ask the Minister to raise these concerns and those of my colleagues with the National Public Health Emergency Team and his colleagues in Cabinet.

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