Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Like most people, I am thinking of the people affected by the horrific attack on Parnell Square last week, most particularly the young children impacted and their care worker. I commend the local heroes who stepped in. I thank everybody on the front line - the emergency services, the gardaí, the front-line workers and the fire brigade - for their swift response. This House needs to send a clear message that we stand united in the face of criminality because the eyes of the country are on us and they want to know not that we are taking potshots at one another but that we will do everything humanly possible to make sure this never happens again.

To achieve that, first, we need to agree that the actions of about 500 people last week were the actions of criminals. There can be no justification of them, there can be no digression from that fact and there can be no trying to wish it away or to explain it. It was blatant criminality. Thugs celebrated as they smashed through shop windows. Men encouraged and goaded one another to attack Garda cars. They put lives in danger by setting buses and a Luas alight. They hijacked our Tricolour, and some, disgustingly, called themselves and presented themselves as patriots. There was absolutely nothing patriotic about the actions of those hundreds of people who set our city alight and put people's lives at risk. This was a group that glorified violence and showed no regard for authority. It was criminal opportunism, pure and simple.

While most of the country watched the actions on their phones and TV screens, the men and women of An Garda Síochána were on the ground. They were face to face with thugs determined to cause harm to them and to our city. This Government recently passed new laws to increase the maximum sentence for attacking a garda to 12 years. That includes the ramming of Garda vehicles. That must be enforced. We will tomorrow pass legislation to introduce bodycams and stop the bizarre situation where gardaí are the only people at a protest or a crime scene without a camera. This Government and the Minister, Deputy McEntee, stand firmly behind the men and women of An Garda Síochána and we will do absolutely everything to give them the tools they need to protect themselves on the job. When many people run from danger, gardaí run towards it, and they deserve our absolute support.

Let us be absolutely clear: the riots were carried out by opportunistic thugs, but the spark that caused the riots was lit by a group of people who tried to prey on the concerns that communities have. Their currency is false information, disinformation and downright lies. They claim, without any mandate, to speak for us. They do not and they never will. Their intent is to divide us. We must stand united. Now is not the time for party politics. We need to send a clear message that mobster rule will never prevail, that there is no crime without consequence, that rights come with responsibilities, that thuggery will not be tolerated and that your communities, your neighbours and your country is ashamed of you if you were involved in those actions last week. I hope this House has the determination to confront all this. I know that the Minister, Deputy McEntee, does and I know that the Government does. In many ways this should not be about Government versus Opposition; it should be about democracy versus anarchy. We should be big enough to call that out.

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