Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Last Thursday, we experienced two appalling acts of violence on our streets. First, the stabbing of several children and their carer, two of whom remain in hospital as we speak. They are stable, but critical and we pray for their recovery. Second, an ugly far-right protest on our streets led to a riot, looting and serious criminal damage. These events were shocking and unacceptable. It was an attack on the rule of law and there is and will be a robust response from An Garda Síochána and the Government. We need to make sure that Thursday's events were exceptional and do not happen again.

I want people to be and feel safe on our streets. As part of that, the Commissioner has confirmed that two Garda public order units will be deployed in Dublin city centre between now and at least Christmas. They are made up of two inspectors, six sergeants and 42 gardaí, so there will be a visible Garda presence on our streets in the coming weeks. Above all we need to do three things. We need more gardaí, better equipment for our gardaí and stronger laws and more prison places. All those things are already very much under way and were under way before the events of last Thursday, but they need to be accelerated. We now have 14,000 gardaí. About 700 to 800 will go through training this year and about 800 to 1,000 next year. We expect Garda numbers to rise to 14,500 by the end of next year. In addition, more than 3,000 civilian staff free up gardaí for front-line work. We have over 3,000 Garda vehicles - 150 more are on order - we have riot gear for 2,500 gardaí, water cannons are on loan and body cameras will soon be on the way.

We also need to strengthen our laws. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, has already brought in tougher sentences for people who commit serious crimes and attack our gardaí. She has plans for an additional 600 prison spaces to make sure that those who are convicted and given long prison sentences serve them. We also need new laws around the use of facial recognition technology and object recognition technology and dedicated legislation on that is on the way. We will bring in a police powers Bill to give police some of the additional powers they asked for when I visited them in Store Street last week and before the recess the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023 will be enacted. The response is immediate, medium term and long term and it is and will be robust.

It is true, as the Deputy said, that other countries have issued warnings to tourists, including their citizens, who visit Dublin, but she should bear in mind that they issue the same warnings about many large cities around the world, including their own large cities and capital cities. It is important that when Deputy McDonald talks about our city, the one we both live, she puts it in that context. I know she does not want to talk down our city in any way.

I have full confidence in An Garda Síochána, in Garda management, including the Commissioner Harris, and I have full confidence in the Minister, Deputy McEntee. As Minister, she has led and been extremely active on issues of law and order and criminal justice during her term in office. In particular, I draw the Deputy's attention to the success we have had in dealing with organised crime. In previous years, we saw dozens of murders every year. A lot of success and results in that area are down to her work and that of An Garda Síochána. In addition, she has led on the issue of gender-based violence. We are facing an epidemic of violence against women and no Minister has done more about it than her. Look at what is being done in Drogheda, for example, as Deputy O'Dowd spoke about this morning. These are the results she has been involved in making happen and her work continues.

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