Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

While Sinn Féin welcomes the idea of expanding responsibility for community safety beyond An Garda Síochána, it is not clear what the purpose of the group is separate to the role of the Policing Authority. While establishing these committees could be a welcome move forward, the Government must also stick to previous commitments. A task force was to be set up to enable the community of Cherry Orchard to deal with a number of high-profile incidents that resulted in gardaí being attacked or rammed with cars. I spoke with a Deputy for the area, Deputy Ó Snodaigh, who informed me that, to date, no task force had been set up. This week, we have seen more footage of gardaí being attacked as they tried to keep law and order on our streets. This is unacceptable behaviour and must be called out for exactly what it is - thuggish and cowardly behaviour by mobs of young people out of control, with a limited number of gardaí available to respond.

Ballyfermot is my neighbouring constituency and an area I know well. My father is from there and I spent much of my childhood at my grandmother's place. People there are proud of their area. It is a very good community. As such, the recent coverage upsets me because it does not reflect the wider community. There are a number of organisations in the area that would work with the Government if it worked with them. It was not by a turn of fate that I won the by-election I was not meant to win in 2019. I accepted a job as an outreach worker for FamiliBase, and a turn of events saw me enter the Dáil. FamiliBase is an organisation that works with some of the young people we saw in this week's coverage. The Government needs to work with organisations like FamiliBase in Ballyfermot and move towards a positive solution. The people of Ballyfermot have had enough of this.

My colleague, Deputy Daly, spoke about mental health. For too long, the Garda has been the gatekeeper of mental health services in our society. We not only need the appropriate number of authorised officers, but they must be in the right place and working at the right time. This means 24-7 access to authorised officers, as mental health issues can arise at any time and at any place.

I welcome that a pilot crisis de-escalation team will be rolled out in Limerick this year. I worked with the Government on this. If it is successful, I would like to see it being rolled out in other areas across the State, given how vital it would be. I am Sinn Féin's spokesperson on mental health. It hurts when people call me under duress about loved ones' mental health and how they feel their loved ones are a danger to themselves or others, as I have no choice but to advise them to call the Garda. I should not be advising them to do that, but they are left with no other option because there is no 24-7 access to emergency mental healthcare. It is an horrific ordeal for any family to experience. We need cross-departmental work on providing 24-7 access to emergency mental healthcare, ensuring the appropriate number of authorised officers are in the right place, and providing crisis de-escalation teams across the State.

My final point before I allow my colleague to contribute has to do with how the number of gardaí across Dublin has decreased. Since 2009, Dublin has lost 757 gardaí. My area covers Clondalkin and Ballyfermot and has seen a 6% decrease in gardaí in that time. This is despite population growth and an increase in criminal activity. Ballyfermot, which was in the news recently, saw a 25% decrease in the number of gardaí stationed there, dropping from 93 in 2012 to 69 at the end of 2022. That is not sustainable. This situation is reflected in Clondalkin, Lucan, Saggart and Newcastle.

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