Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

More than anything else, it is the hypocrisy that grates the most. The Taoiseach used the phrase again yesterday that Fine Gael uses repeatedly - "the party of law and order". It is almost Orwellian at this point that Fine Gael continues to refer to itself in those terms when after holding the Ministry for justice for more than 12 years, we have seen continued deterioration and increasing dysfunction in how our streets are policed and how our Garda stations are resourced. We all experience that as public representatives in our constituencies almost on a weekly basis. I know of stations in Cabra that have to give their only Garda car over to Finglas. I have continuously raised in this Chamber the issue of how Dublin city centre is policed and not just during the summer when it peaked in terms of attention, yet here we are today.

To truly be a party of law and order, Fine Gael would first have to treat the people who are tasked with enforcing it with respect and decency when it comes to pay and conditions and this very clearly is not the case. Rank-and-file gardaí are demonstrating that in this action in a number of different ways - no less than the vote, which has been discussed. This year alone, 96 members of An Garda Síochána have resigned. In 2016, the equivalent number was 24. I have talked to a number of friends who have left An Garda Síochána and I have also watched the "Prime Time" documentary. As gardaí left, they have highlighted the dysfunction and harassment in terms of they were asked to serve in a job; the lack of civilianisation, which is a political issue; and an absence of IT resources, which limits how they can do their job. This is before we get to the fact that the increasing cost of living means they cannot afford to pay their rent or pay for childcare. We have put An Garda Síochána in the same position as the teaching profession. We have broken the social contract and we are paying the price on the streets.

During the summer, national attention was drawn to Dublin city centre because of high volumes of crime and the frequency of attacks on people. There were three responses to that. The first was a photo op and a press release that spoke of armed gardaí and dogs on the streets. This was a photo op for the sake of a photo op. There should not be armed gardaí and dogs on the streets. Nobody wanted that; people just wanted a basic policing presence. Funding of €10 million was supposed to be used to fund Garda overtime. Clearly, that has become a joke now. It is not going to happen. It was also going to run out by Christmas and everything would have turned back. A 52-page document spoke about a future policing plan for the inner city. It is effectively a stream of consciousness. There is no resourcing in it. All the action points are highlighted with a lack of resources, funding and interest. It is a joke. What the inner city needs is an effective continuing policing presence and to do that, the Minister needs to demonstrate much more leadership than what we have seen.

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