Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The thoughts of everyone in this House remain with the victims of the appalling attack that took place outside Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire last week.

Our thoughts are particularly with the young child and her carer, who intervened so bravely. Both remain in critical condition in hospital. We all wish for their full recovery, as we have been doing all weekend. We have all gone home to our own children and hugged them a little tighter since Thursday. The after-school rush is a moment of joy when children leave their classes and run out full of joy, wanting to tell their parents, minders and grandparents what they did and learned during the day. That such a peaceful, happy scene should become one of such horror has left us each and every one of us profoundly shaken. That we are even thinking about the safety of schoolchildren is a measure of the barbarity of the assault in Dublin last Thursday. I have no doubt that whoever is responsible for this will be brought to justice. I commend the emergency services on their swift response, continuing care and treatment of the victims of this attack.

We must be very clear about what followed the attack. What we saw was a group of extremists exploiting an appalling incident to wreak havoc. They disturbed the scene of the previous shocking crime and diverted Garda resources away from investigating and dealing with that crime. They were joined by opportunistic thugs, vandals and criminals, who will be dealt with as such. There is no excuse for the disgraceful scenes of violence we saw on Thursday evening. No circumstance, personal or otherwise, forces someone to loot, riot, assault a member of An Garda Síochána, damage businesses built up over years or disturb gardaí investigating the most shocking of crimes. There are no excuses.

Teachers in Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire, the after-school carers, those who bravely intervened, our gardaí, who restored law and order, our emergency service personnel, who worked throughout the night, our council workers, who worked throughout the night to clean up our city, our retail staff preparing for the Christmas rush, working in the shops and streets that give Dublin its unique appeal, and our business owners, who have been left absolutely devastated just as they enter the busiest time of the year, are the people who work day in and day out to make our city great. There is no excuse for trying to tear it down. We will not entertain any excuses. The thugs and criminals will be brought to justice. We will do everything we can to ensure what we witnessed on Thursday never happens again.

More than 400 members of An Garda Síochána were deployed on patrol in Dublin city centre, including front-line uniformed gardaí, non-uniformed gardaí and in excess of 250 public order gardaí. The disturbances were contained in one area of the city, although significant damage was done. We all saw what happened. I commend each and every garda on restoring order to our streets as quickly as they did and for their ongoing efforts to bring those responsible to justice.

A significant number of arrests have been made, and more than 30 people have already been before the courts. That will continue. An Garda Síochána maintained a high-visibility policing plan throughout the weekend, including through the deployment of public order units, the dog unit and the mounted unit. Thankfully, due to the diligent work of gardaí, no further scenes of chaos have unfolded.

There are, of course, understandable concerns about safety in the city, but I reassure people that order has been restored and maintained. It will be maintained. The high-visibility Garda presence on the streets – this includes the four public order units – is being and will be maintained in Dublin for the foreseeable future. Commissioner Harris and front-line gardaí have my full support and confidence. Over the weekend, I visited Garda stations in the city and the control centre at Heuston Station. I thanked gardaí and Garda staff for their work. I made it very clear that I, as Minister for Justice, the Government as a whole and society fully support them.

Gardaí are working through thousands of hours of CCTV footage to gather evidence to bring those responsible to justice. That they must use hundreds of manpower hours to do so merely highlights the need for us to give the Garda all the technology it needs. This is now about passing new laws for the sake of it. It is about giving gardaí the tools and technology they need to bring the thugs to justice.

To those who say An Garda Síochána should have seen this coming, I say not one person in this Chamber who woke up on Thursday morning could even have imagined what he or she would have been hearing about later, in the afternoon. A group of extremists cynically used what was an appalling tragedy as an incident to spark hate and a fuelled rampage.

However, as the Commissioner has said, of course Thursday night's operations will be revised and of course lessons learned where necessary. That is as it should be after every significant event. Last week, the Garda Commissioner assured members of An Garda of his support if they are required to use force and equipment to protect themselves, as appropriate. I fully support our front-line gardaí in the job they do. I want to provide even more reassurance, and that is why I have asked the Policing Authority to determine how we can further support An Garda Síochána in dealing with public order incidents. This will include the equipment they need, such as non-lethal equipment, stronger vehicles, resources, the use of the dog unit, training and powers, including the use of force, where necessary. No Garda member should have to look over their shoulder or second-guess themselves in a challenging environment where the use of force is warranted and necessary. We have to provide that clarity and we will.

I have consistently acknowledged that people have genuine concerns about safety in our city. I acknowledge there are people who do not feel safe, but I also acknowledge that Dublin is a great city. We must do more. I have been working hard to improve safety in our city centre in particular. I listen to local communities, businesses and community groups, local representatives and women when they say they do not feel safe. That is why we have invested significantly in additional resources for Dublin city centre. We have opened two new Garda stations in the north city centre, on O'Connell Street and Fitzgibbon Street. Operation Citizen was launched to provide highly visible policing across our city centre. Of course, as we gain momentum in Garda recruitment, we are sending more members to the city centre. Out of the 227 new recruits who graduated so far this year, 165 have been sent to Dublin. Since 2015, when the first garda graduated after the college had been closed due to the economic crash, the number of gardaí in the Dublin metropolitan region has increased from 3,491 to 3,742. Through successful Garda operations to tackle organised crime, the number of murders carried out by organised crime groups has fallen substantially.

I have established a new community safety partnership in the north inner city to bring everyone around the table to focus on safety. Included are businesses, Dublin City Council, education providers, the HSE, community organisations, public representatives and many others. This approach recognises safety is not just about policing. We all acknowledge that, as we must. This is the first partnership of its kind in the country, and they will be rolled out national across the country next year.

Our Garda reforms have allowed us to establish dedicated community policing teams which are operating in the city centre, again building on the really strong link gardaí have with their communities. Of course, we can and will do more. I have listened to retailers not just in Dublin but also in Cork, Limerick, Galway and Meath. I am aware of the difficulties they face in dealing with repeat offenders who steal from their shops without regard for law or livelihoods. In the coming weeks, having worked closely with retailers and An Garda, I will announce further measures to deal with this particularly difficult challenge. I have asked the Commissioner to examine what more we can do to improve high-visibility policing in Dublin as we build momentum there and in recruitment.

There is no avoiding the fact that the forced closure of the Garda College during Covid-19 impacted the recruitment process. The reality is we would now have 1,000 more gardaí if it had not closed. However, it closed for good reasons. The aim is to keep people safe. By the end of 2023, between 700 and 800 new recruits will have entered the college. Five thousand people applied to be gardaí in our last campaign, which clearly shows there is interest in becoming a garda. Interest is as strong as ever. We have budgeted for between 800 and 1,000 new gardaí next year, and a new recruitment campaign will open within weeks.

A new recruitment campaign for the Garda Reserve will also take place in early 2024, the first such recruitment campaign since 2017. There are currently just under 14,000 members throughout the country. Of course, like everyone in the House, I want to see more. I am confident that, by the end of this year, we will have a significantly stronger Garda force and by the end of next year we will have an even greater Garda force. I am also working to resolve any outstanding industrial relations issues which I hope will help serving Garda members. That is always ongoing.

The Garda budget is a record €2.3 billion in 2024, a 23% increase since I became Minister in 2020. Of course, we can do more, but it is simply not true to say we are not investing in An Garda Síochána or that we are not resourcing our gardaí. Almost every garda now has real-time access to apps and handheld devices, eliminating paperwork and allowing them to carry out their front-line duties far more efficiently. We have automatic number plate recognition in Garda vehicles, allowing for real-time identification of vehicles. Much more technology is being rolled out every day.

There are currently 3,467 vehicles in the Garda fleet, an increase of 11% just in the last three years. It is the largest fleet of cars and vans ever available and we are still adding to that. The roll-out of body-worn cameras and the expansion of community CCTV will be facilitated by legislation to pass in this House tomorrow. We will roll out body-worn cameras next year. I have asked the Commissioner to examine and make sure that is done as quickly as is physically possible.

I have also passed tough new laws. We have doubled to ten years the maximum sentence for assault causing harm. We have increased from ten years to life in prison the sentence for conspiracy to murder. We have increased from seven to 12 years the sentence for assaulting a Garda member or emergency worker. That is now the law for anybody who attacked or attempted to attack a member last week. We have passed laws to improve post-release supervision of sex offenders and to provide for electronic tagging. We have allowed access to certain communications data to protect national security and tackle serious crime. I have passed laws to provide stronger Garda powers for seizure of scramblers.

We have also been working on new laws to introduce facial recognition technology and they will be before the House in the coming months. We are criminalising adults who groom children into a life of crime. We are updating our laws on incitement to hatred and hate crime. It has never been more evident that that is needed now. We are updating powers available to gardaí to access communications on closed social media sites. I have a plan to deliver 400 more prison spaces for 620 prisoners. This year, I appointed 24 new judges to make sure our courts are operating in the most efficient and effective way possible - the largest ever increase in judicial resources. These are all key elements of my agenda, and the Government's agenda, to build stronger, safer communities.

Some of the extremists responsible for last week’s riots claim to speak for Irish people. They claim to want to speak honestly about immigration. Their ignorance blinds them to the fact that our country, once a nation of emigrants, is enriched by the many thousands of people who come here to build a better life, such as those who work in our health and emergency services and those who bravely intervened to help schoolchildren last week. These are the people who represent the best of Irish values.

However, I can do more and every one of us in this Chamber can do more to talk about the contributions migrants make to our economy, our society and our culture. Yes, we must have a fair and efficient immigration system, one where people-----

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