Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

What we need to see from the Government is action. We need to see three actions in particular. First is conducting an independent and urgent review into what went wrong in order that we can see proper accountability. A Policing Authority review is not enough. We need to see the inspectorate going in. We need an independent review of what went wrong. We also need to see a real commitment from Government to tackling and targeting the far right and ensuring intelligence-led policing is taking it on. Third, we need a commitment from Government to give front-line gardaí the resources they need, ensure we have more personnel and not allow the numbers to drop – as they have – below 4,000. We need that commitment urgently from Government.

The key issue will be accountability. We saw over the weekend some political grandstanding on this issue and calls not just from Opposition but, it seems now, members of the Taoiseach’s partners in government, a Fianna Fáil Senator most recently, for heads to roll. That is grandstanding and playacting at a time when people in this country and city are calling out for political leadership and unity of purpose against the awful threat of the far right. We need to see unity of purpose and we are not even seeing it from Government. We see Fianna Fáil speaking with one voice in the media, yet rowing in on the Government benches behind the Minister and the Government.

There is a whole-of-government failure here. All of those in government must take responsibility for failing to address the key crisis within An Garda Síochána, which undoubtedly contributed to the breakdown of law and order we saw in our city last Thursday night.

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