Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin supports the proposal on body cams provided there is strict supervision, monitoring and protocols. As has been already outlined by some of my comrades, we have concerns about facial recognition provisions being introduced to a Bill that has already gone through prelegislative scrutiny. It is really not good enough. It goes without saying that technology must be always used in a way that ensures a careful balance between privacy and the protection of the citizen through the most serious and rigorous regulation and supervision. It is impossible to overstate the need for all of this. Training and oversight are, therefore, critical. Something with such a big reach demands equally big responsibility, responsibility that must be demanded and upheld constantly by our gardaí. Gardaí are still undervalued and under-resourced. I say this as a Deputy for Kildare, which as one of the lowest ratios of gardaí to residents in the State, and as the daughter of a garda who loved his job and who gave himself to it, heart and soul. Like millions of people in this State, I am horrified by the appalling way in which our gardaí are being treated by a tiny number of far-right thugs, who are actively and cynically exploiting the concerns of ordinary local people in their communities for their own ends. These thugs could not give a ha'penny damn about them, their lives, their families or their futures.

They will happily go on to their next crusade, their next grudge, and leave decent, ordinary people in the wreckage they have created. I have grave concerns, as do many of my colleagues, that some eejit of a young fella, riled up by the hard men with their incendiary talk of rape and burning people out of their homes, will destroy the lives of other people as well as his own. Our young, impressionable people, no matter how old they are or how tough they think they are, need protection from these cowards masquerading as patriots who do not even know their national flag from the flag of the Ivory Coast. Parents taken in with this rubbish would want to think long and hard about the impact they could be having on their own children. They need only look at any school gate and see the rainbow of colours walking in and out on any given day. Our kids have friends from many different nations and play with them every day.

There is no leadership from the Government on this and I ask the Government to take its head out of the sand and lead on what is in front of it. Most Irish people do not have a white supremacist bone in their body. What is annoying a lot of these communities is that they see their small community spaces being given over and taken over by the great and the good, who are going to be making an absolute fortune out of many of these contracts. The Government has a duty to prevent violence and tragedy. It has a duty to our people and to our gardaí. There is no use wringing our hands about it later on when lives are shattered and futures stolen.

I commend the gardaí who have experienced scurrilous approaches from these far-right thugs. I want to let them know we appreciate their calm in the face of such outright thuggery. I would also like to take the opportunity to mark the retirement of our local superintendent in Kildare, Martin Walker, who is retiring on Friday after 40 years in the service. I thank him on behalf of everybody in Kildare for his commitment to us and the force.

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