Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Given that the events of last Thursday came upon us with such venom, we did not think this night a week ago that we would be having this debate this evening. I wish a speedy recovery to those brutally injured in the school attack. That issue and the bravery of people who stepped in have been well documented and referred to eloquently this evening. In its own right, the incident would have been a trauma in our city, but what followed was unbelievable.

We have to agree there has been an increase in antisocial behaviour and lawlessness in this country over the past two years. The Minister for Justice has got to do more, and she knows that, but the Government as a whole and every Department must also do more to ensure we get on top of this. It is not just a justice issue. The events that unfolded last week and for many months show there is a significant issue in our communities, particularly our capital city. However, we had unrest in Galway this summer. There was mayhem in the streets, with people openly defying the law.

Our Garda resources and mental health services and supports are not adequate. We had a Private Members' motion in December 2020 on mental health, and my colleagues and I in the Regional Group called for a whole-of-government approach to strengthen and develop strategies for more vulnerable groups. The Covid pandemic has wreaked havoc, but not only in respect of our health and economy because it has also deeply affected our social fabric, personal security and sense of belonging. We need to tackle this.

There were many people taking part in the riots and looting last week who took full advantage of the chaos. They did not care or think about the consequences of their actions, or about their own families and communities, the people they rely on for emergency services and bus services, Luas drivers, shop workers and gardaí. It is important to hold the individuals responsible to account, for they should have known better than to engage in such brutal antisocial behaviour. By imposing appropriate punishments, we can send a strong message that such actions will not be tolerated.

I would not like to label the extremist groups as right wing or left wing because they are self-appointed and not elected by anybody. We should not be calling them "groups" because that gives them a status they do not deserve. They are there to manipulate boredom. These hard-right and left-wing factions exploit weaker sections in society. We need to deal with that. Not only do we need a cross-government programme to deal with this but we also need every political party in the House to fall in behind that. Probably what we need is an all-party group to examine what we are facing. With the Garda situation, on which we had a Private Members' motion, a task force needs to be set up to see how best we can turn around the morale and all that is going on in the force.

This is not a time to be calling for heads; it is a time for all of us to put our heads together to ensure we stand to defend democracy. I have one little warning for the Minister for Justice and the rest of the Government: rural Ireland still exists. It still has its problems and all the burglaries, and there are still drugs all over the place. We are now sucking people from rural Ireland to deal with Dublin. That is not a great solution in the long term and we need to get back to having a full, working police force.

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