Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Our thoughts this evening are, above all, with the children of Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire, and our prayers are with those who remain in hospital. The events at the school last Thursday were horrendous. I commend those who came to the scene and demobilised the attacker, the emergency services, na gardaí, the fire service and the ambulance crews who were first on the scene. Their collective efforts undoubtedly saved lives.

Above all else, we hope that those who were injured and remain in hospital make a full recovery.

I cannot believe that we have a justice Minister and a Garda Commissioner who will not accept that control was lost in our capital city last Thursday evening. The first step in resolving any problem is to acknowledge that the problem exists. Here is a problem that the Minister and Commissioner refuse to acknowledge. The Minister failed to keep people safe in the centre of Dublin city last week. Worse still, she has been presiding over a situation where people have been feeling less safe in every town, village and city every year she has been in government. She is still not listening to communities that feel that they have been ignored and disenfranchised, to businesses, particularly retailers, that have been telling her about increased antisocial behaviour, to those who visit our towns and city centres and readily admit they always try to get out before dark, and to the parents who have reported the fear they feel whenever their young adult children are out socialising. These stories have become particularly relevant, and prevalent, in Dublin, but they are well known in every village, town and city in the State. I hear them in County Monaghan. Any honest Deputy would attest that he or she hears them in every community across the State, yet the Minister still does not accept that there is a problem. The Garda Commissioner does not accept that there is a problem. If they cannot even recognise problems that have arisen as a result of 12 years of Fine Gael in government, then no one can have confidence that they are the people to finally sort them out.

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