Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I extend my thoughts and my prayers to the five-year-old girl who remains seriously ill in hospital, to her brave childcare worker and to all those who found themselves in an absolutely unbelievable situation, caught up in awful scenes outside Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire on Thursday afternoon. To those who decided that the way to protect those small children and their carers was to riot, to rob, to set fire to public transport service vehicles and emergency service vehicles and to terrorise Dubliners, people who work here and who live here, as well as people visiting our capital city - words fail me. Some €20 million worth of damage and destruction was caused. That cost is nothing compared to the social cost: the fear, the intimidation and the reputational damage done to Dublin, our city and our country. That was spurred on and amplified by social media, and those social media companies need to be held accountable for that.

Thankfully, however, that behaviour was contrasted by the heroes of Dublin: our front-line and essential workers, our healthcare workers from nearby hospitals, our bus and Luas drivers, our Dublin City Council workers, our retailers, our restaurateurs, our delivery people, our bystanders, our emergency service responders and, in particular, our gardaí. Gardaí need Government protection. They need to feel empowered to be able to use the full resources available to them. They need to know that we trust them to police appropriately and to protect society in the moment. They need our legal protections and they need the backup of more gardaí. I know the Minister is committed to that, and that is the difference between her and the Opposition. It is not just words; it is actions. It is garda recruitment campaigns, extra resources, extra budgets, legislation on facial recognition technology and bodycams, tougher laws and tougher sentences. Destabilisation is what these people want, and it is what the Opposition wants too, but stability is what we need.

See this speech in context