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

I believe the Minister, Deputy McEntee, is a decent woman who is committed to public service. I believe she has empathy but empathy will not put any additional Garda boots on the ground where we need them, on the streets.

People have talked a lot about the spectre, as they see it, although the public and gardaí on the ground do not see it like that, of a Sinn Féin Minister for Justice. I ask Government Deputies to imagine a scenario in which a Sinn Féin Minister for Justice had overseen a recruitment and retention crisis, gardaí leaving in their droves and serious public order incidents, the big story this summer being the north inner city being unsafe, culminating in the scenes we saw last Thursday. I ask them to imagine that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil would not table a motion of confidence in that Sinn Féin Minister. They are having a laugh.

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