Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gardaí, particularly those who received training in Templemore, do not need to be told about their powers under the public order Act but they need to know that the organisation and the Government have their back because they feel that they do not. I ask for the Garda Reserve regulations to be implemented. We heard 20 minutes ago at the Joint Committee on Justice, where we have been calling for this for months, that An Garda Síochána will not be recruiting until at least Easter. I ask the Minister to sit with the representative bodies who have been asking for a meeting for months and to invest more in communities youth services.

Fine Gael is in denial about control being lost. It seems that its coalition partners do not agree. Fine Gael has held this Ministry for 13 years, after which time we have a larger population but fewer gardaí. Fianna Fáil's confidence and supply arrangement has enabled Fine Gael for seven years. This coalition does not inspire confidence. The situation with regard to Garda numbers has not been brought under control. The Garda Commissioner called in members from outside of Dublin, but that is another Band-Aid.

We heard today that the Government's response is more legislation and more prison spaces. This is not new legislation; it has been spoken about for months. The powers are already there under the public order Act. It is true that the prisons are packed but when rates of recidivism are so high, and nothing is being done to counter them, it is no surprise that numbers are so high. Legislation is already there to allow charges of conspiracy to incite a riot, for example, to be brought.

There has been a pattern of a lack of control around the main street of our capital. There have been failures to ensure public safety. People need to feel safe and to feel their children are safe. Emergency workers, retail workers and bus drivers need to be protected. We had hoped that the Government would listen to local businesses, to workers and their families, and to parents of children. It should also listen to the demands for greater Garda presence on the streets. However, it is clear that it is still not listening. It has reverted back to Fine Gael type, which is law and order and more legislation, which will not work. It needs to listen to communities, get to grips with the situation so that people can feel safe and protected, and ensure there is a proper response. Does anyone have confidence that the Government can rectify these problems? I do not believe so. Fianna Fáil, the Green Party and Fine Gael must reflect carefully rather than seeing the situation continue to degrade.

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