Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Government TDs are entitled to their characters. Some of them believe them and some, less honourably, do not. That is neither here nor there and is of no concern to communities on the ground. When we boil this down, there are now fewer gardaí on the streets and fewer Garda stations open than there were when Fine Gael took office. We are two years past the 2021 targets and in terms of overall staff, the Government has not only missed the target for enlisted gardaí by 1,000. Not only that but in terms of the overall Garda workforce, between enlisted gardaí, Garda Reserve members and civilian staff, the Government is 4,000 staff behind its targets. That has real-world consequences and the Government cannot dispute that.

What happened on Thursday, 23 November was incredibly serious. The scenes we saw were among the worst seen in Dublin in many years but it was far from an isolated incident. We spent the whole summer talking about antisocial behaviour and crime in the north inner city. In the last few weeks in Cork, we had a petrol bombing and two shootings. In the petrol bombing in Onslow Gardens, a number of children were fortunate to escape without injury. Earlier in the year, we had other shootings and some serious assaults and incidents. Those real-world consequences are felt in Cork and many other places. Of the most recent cohort of 126 gardaí to leave the Garda College, one garda came to Cork. We have had four new gardaí this entire year. Some 10% of the population live in County Cork and we have had four additional gardaí.

This has been a political issue in Cork for years. I have raised it with a number of issues at this stage and we have the same routine every time. A Minister comes down and the local Minister meets the superintendent. They say things will change and improve and that an investment will be made. We get a couple of probationers over Christmas and they go back home in the new year. It is the same thing again and again and it is leading to communities feeling neglected and terrified when incidents such as the recent incidents in Cork city and Dublin occur. I had cause to ring a 24-hour Garda station on Saturday night on behalf of a constituent. I rang three times and the call rang out every time. I do not blame the gardaí in that station. I am sure they were dealing with urgent matters. The fact is nobody was there to pick up the pieces because the Garda has been neglected. We are way behind targets and gardaí leaving in their droves.

People have talked about personalised attacks but I do not believe in that and nor do most of us.

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