Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We welcome this legislation. Obviously, it is an absolute necessity that we have a streamlined process to ensure compensation for gardaí suffering injury or death rather than the antiquated one we have had and that the scheme makes sense and is swift and just to those who are out there working on our behalf and trying to introduce an element of justice. It is a very difficult job. None of us have a job wherein we could end up in incredibly dangerous circumstances on any given day. Therefore, everything that needs to be done in that regard must be done. It is very welcome that we are looking at dealing with trainees and, beyond that, with even the civilian staff who work with gardaí.

In dealing with this issue, I think of my own constituency and the cases of Adrian Donohoe and Tony Golden, who died doing their jobs. We all understand the dangers that are out there. We probably do not understand just how dangerous it is on a day-to-day basis. From time to time, we see some of the violence that it is out there. We have particular issues, particularly late at night and in urban settings. We need to look at the sort of policing that is required. As Deputy O'Reilly stated, we need an audit of the need so that we can ensure we have the full resources required. That is an absolute requirement.

We have seen some degree of increase in violence and aggression late at night. We all know that Ireland has never had a particularly great relationship with alcohol. Many of us may have been less than saintly over the years. Beyond that, we are aware that we are dealing with a significant issue in respect of drug abuse, especially cocaine abuse. An awful lot of people see cocaine as a recreational drug that they can take without doing any real harm. It has been brought to my attention in the last while that taxi ranks in Dundalk have recently been closed down. They did not want to leave their doors open because drivers and staff were dealing with wholesale aggression. I cannot help but think that some of that relates to the current widespread use of cocaine.

I have spoken to the Minister many times before about the need to deal with the wider issue of the drugs epidemic. I welcomed the establishment of the Drogheda Implementation Board in an attempt to deal with the brutal outworkings of the Drogheda feud but we need a significant level of resourcing across the board and a proper plan to deal with the drugs epidemic. This plan should cover everything from the addiction side and a health-led approach to it to criminality and drug debt intimidation. We have dealt with the Family Addiction Support Network before. That service provides great support to An Garda and to families who have been directly impacted by drug addiction and drug debt intimidation. We need to give it the capacity to stay in the game.

There is a wider issue. We need a citizens' assembly. We hope that this will be convened very early next year, although we would have preferred it to happen a lot sooner. There is a wider issue even beyond this State that we need to look at if we are to deal with the drugs issue. I have said here more than once that this is something we need to do at the European level. The issue is enormous and all-encompassing. There is no one who has to deal with this more and no one for whom it creates greater levels of danger than the gardaí themselves. Unfortunately, that is an issue given where we are and the societal difficulties we have. We all welcome the moves that have been made, particularly those made internationally, to deal with the Kinahan cartel but, unfortunately, these sorts of organisations exist in every town and village in this State, albeit on a smaller level and sometimes in a more disorganised way. We cannot continue doing what we are doing. We need to look at something far more radical. It is a simple as that. We need a full audit of what is required. We know there has been under-resourcing and that, even lately, there have been issues with regard to An Garda Síochána not having-----

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