Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Paul Donnelly is also due to share.

Chathair ársa Bhaile Átha Cliath is ea mo chathair, agus cathair do bhreis is 1,250,000 daoine atá ina gcónaí ann. Rugadh agus tógadh sa chathair seo mé agus táim an-bhródúil gurbh as an chathair dom. Leis an méid sin ráite agam, tá fadhbanna bunúsacha sa chathair nach bhfuil an Rialtas láir ag tabhairt fúthu agus nach bhfuil de chumhacht nó d’acmhainn ag Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath nó ag na comhairlí eile atá timpeall uirthi tabhairt fúthu.

Is iad na fadhbanna is mó sa chathair seo ná fadhbanna coiriúlachta seachas na cinn atá in a lán ceantar eile maidir le seirbhísí agus a leithéid a dhéanaimid plé orthu go minic. Tá ceantair i mo dhúiche féin nach bhfuil páirc pheile acu cumadh, fiú amháin, agus gan soláthar ceart tithíochta a bheith acu don éileamh áitiúil atá ann. Tá fadhbanna acu le díol drugaí oscailte le breis agus 30 bliain i roinnt de na ceantair ina bhfuil mise i mo ionadaí orthu, mar aon leis an bochtanas leanúnach atá i gceist. Is é Baile Átha Cliath 8 an ceantar is mó turasóireachta in Éirinn. Cad iad na pictiúir a fheiceann an chosmhuintir gach uile lá agus na híomhánna a fheiceann turasóirí agus iad ag siúl tríd an gceantar seo timpeall ar Guinness, Cill Mhaighneann, nó a leithéid de cheantar? Feiceann siad daoine ar ísle brí, ag lorg deirce, iad siúd atá ar dhrugaí, iad ag siúl timpeall ar thámhnéal, ag déanamh caca ar thaobh an bhóthair nó ag sá snáthaid, mar fhaoiseamh, iontu féin í mbéal dorais fliuch. It is not just in Dublin 8 that there is the sight of those addicted to drugs gathering to score and to shoot up, to beg, plead, steal or whatever is possible to get the price of the next fix. They need help and not to be on the street.

They need more rehab beds, supported accommodation, mental health interventions and more. More so, however, they, and we in this city, need the criminal drug gangs dealt with from the ground up and from the top down at the same time.

Despite the success of An Garda Síochána, we need many more gardaí across the city, in our community, seen openly and on a much more permanent basis than has been the case for most of the years of my life in this city. They are needed in our tourist areas, where the crimes associated with drugs - open drug dealing, harassment of people, intimidation, thuggery and wanton destruction of property - take place. It is not just the tourist areas but every single area, in particular the working-class areas of the city. Those communities have been plagued by those who are involved in this. What message goes out to the youth if, for instance, Garda Síochána cars drive by when open drug dealing is happening? That happens day in, day out. Those Garda members know where it is happening. They know where cars are being robbed. That has happened continuously.

I know that the Minister has said the Commissioner is taking a more proactive view on that. I have been around in this House for over 20 years and I have heard that day in, day out. It is not happening quickly enough and not happening continuously and, because of that, we are left with continued fear of crime. People cry to me in my office continuously and go home at night and hope that they can close the door and that the thuggish elements outside will not come into their homes in whatever way. The advice to those who have had threats made against them because of a son's or other relative's drug debt is to pay up. That is the advice not from me but from gardaí on the beat and elsewhere. What type of message goes out when An Garda Síochána will not go into an area without the armed response unit or the public order unit?

The reason that this has happened at this scale in Cherry Orchard and places like it is that those places have been ignored for too long. I acknowledge that the Minister and many other Ministers have come to Cherry Orchard since the incident in which two gardaí got injured in an attack involving another car. That should not have happened. It would not have happened, I believe, if action had been taken when those cars were being taken week in, week out, and were burned in the exact same place. At least now people are starting to listen and to pay heed. I welcome the Minister's interest. I just hope that this is not one of those times when An Garda Síochána starts off but does not deliver on what it has promised.

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