Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom mo chuid ama a roinnt leis an Teachta Shanahan.

I extend my thoughts and prayers to the five-year-old girl who was critically injured in last Thursday’s stabbing attack in Dublin, and to the hero school worker, who was also seriously injured and is in a serious condition in hospital. I commend the bravery of all those who intervened in the knife attack, many of whom are new to Ireland and are representative of the positive contribution that is being made to the country by many of our new residents.

The knife attack on children that day marked a dark new departure for the entire life of our capital city. I condemn the despicable violence, vandalism and hooliganism that took over the capital last Thursday evening. The centre of our capital was in utter chaos for hours and the lives of citizens, including gardaí, were under significant threat. The Government lost control of our capital, with all of the damage that entailed. Images of anarchy were broadcast around the world, shattering Ireland’s reputation and undoubtedly doing considerable damage to future investment and tourism in the country.

I condemn the shocking examples of naked racism that appeared on social media and on our streets. Incredibly, there were calls for the murder of immigrants on social media. This is a shocking indictment of where this country is at. There is a small nexus of ethno-nationalists stoking up racism in our capital, a city that has a long and proud republican history of equality.

The Government and the Garda need to get their act together. The Garda operation on the day was one of chaos. This is not a criticism of rank-and-file gardaí, who stepped into the breach with incredible bravery. I have spoken to gardaí who were on duty that day and they have told me that many of them were not mobilised into the city until 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. They had to travel to Santry to pick up body armour, vans and shields, of which there were not enough. There was pandemonium in Santry. They then had to travel into the city, and many of them did not get there until 8 p.m. when the riot was in full swing. Many of those gardaí were exposed and vulnerable. Some were in groups of eight facing up to 50 thugs. This State put the lives of those gardaí in shocking danger that day. At the very least, we owe it to them to have a full investigation into the policing operation undertaken last Thursday. This should be a must for the Government.

Thursday was definitely an outlier, but the trend of increased violence and mayhem in towns and villages across Ireland has been happening for years. Instead of dealing with the issue, the Minister for Justice has allowed Garda numbers to fall every year she has been Minister. We now have one of the smallest police forces per capitain the whole of Europe. Gardaí are being violently attacked every day and they are retiring and resigning in greater numbers than before. The number of gardaí joining Templemore is still falling. Garda numbers overall are falling. Gardaí are voting with their feet and leaving the force. There is a direct correlation between the strength of our Garda force and the Garda’s ability to fight crime.

This country is becoming far more dangerous. Rapes and sexual assaults have doubled in ten years, murders are up, unprovoked attacks are up and there are thugs with multiple prosecutions who never see custody. Recently, I tabled a parliamentary question to the Minister. She told me that there were more prisoners than prison beds in the prison system. The Department of Justice is letting out prisoners on temporary release to make space for new prisoners.

None of this is new. I have been raising it constantly. We have a Government of chaos. The Minister for Justice lost control of our capital to anarchy last Thursday. I believe the Minister is not doing her job. It does not give me pleasure to say this, but she should resign.

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