Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The events of last Thursday shook our society to the core. Our thoughts and prayers are with all the victims and hopefully they will make a full recovery. I acknowledge the heroic efforts of the brave individuals who intervened to save the children and their teachers and our front-line workers who acted heroically on what was a black Thursday for our society.

Law and order is not just an issue in Dublin city centre; it is an issue all around the country. Every town and village has its own problems and issues. We need extra gardaí. We have to make it more attractive and beneficial for gardaí to remain in the force. We have to look at pay, working conditions and pensions of our gardaí. We need to make it crystal clear what gardaí can do when they find themselves in difficult situations in order that they will not fear being prosecuted for defending themselves and defending the society that they so proudly defend.

Legislation relating to the carrying of knives needs to be strengthened. Greater penalties must be imposed on people who carry knives in public places. Anyone carrying a knife is travelling with menace and has evil intentions.

We need to put greater resources into tackling our drugs problem. Gangs are making vast amounts of money out of dealing in drugs and doing irreparable damage to our young people and our society. Drugs are an evil cancer within our society and we need to tackle them. Unfortunately, they have spread to the four corners of the country. I urge the Minister to provide greater resources here because law and order will benefit from it.

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