Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

A story in today's edition of The Irish Times tells us that more than 3,000 999 calls reporting domestic violence were cancelled by the Garda in 2019 and 2020. There is talk of disciplinary action. Would the Tánaiste agree that the number of cancelled calls speaks to something more than sloppy policing by particular members of the Garda? At best, it speaks to me of a failure on the part of the leadership of the Garda to instil and foster a culture of making protection of women and children a high priority. At worst, it could even speak to a culture of misogyny.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties now believes that the very first event organiser of a street protest since the onset of the pandemic to face a €500 fine is Ms Aislinn O'Keeffe of Limerick. She is alleged to have organised a socially distanced protest involving no more than ten people on a wide city street on 18 March on the issue of opposing femicide and domestic violence. She refuses to pay the fine and awaits a court summons. Would the Tánaiste agree with me that prosecution would be a bad look for the Garda in this instance?

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