Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

First of all, I reiterate the view shared by many that the rioting and violent disorder we saw in Dublin on 23 November was a disgrace. As the Deputy knows, those horrific scenes followed the tragic knife attack outside Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire that lunchtime. Again, I am sure Deputy Daly and others will join me in wishing the victims of that attack, especially the five-year-old girl and her carer, a speedy recovery. I also commend the Garda Commissioner and all the gardaí involved throughout that day on their strong and effective response in restoring order to the city. I place on record again my appreciation of all the emergency services, the various support services and the local authority for their work in dealing with all aspects of the attack and the subsequent disturbances.

I am committed to supporting An Garda Síochána in its mission of keeping people safe. The unprecedented allocation of €2.3 billion for 2024 to An Garda Síochána demonstrates the Government's commitment to ensuring the force has provision for the equipment, technology, facilities, fleet and personnel it needs to carry out vital policing work. Of course, I want that funding to increase so we can provide even more resources. An additional €4.4 million was allocated for the purchase of 95 additional Garda cars and vans by the end of this year. This will include 17 public order Garda vans that will be deployed in our towns and cities across the country to provide further reassurance for people, businesses and communities, again in response to what happened two weeks ago. It also includes 38 new fully electric patrol cars and 40 unmarked surveillance cars. This is in addition to ten community policing vans that will be ready for deployment shortly.

In light of the riots, the Garda senior management team has agreed on a range of measures to further support front-line gardaí, including tooling all gardaí with stronger incapacitant spray, expanding the dog unit, increasing public order training, providing more Tasers for public order policing and providing handheld video cameras for public order units, among other measures. I am also committed to providing the Garda with any statutory powers it might require to deliver an effective response to public order disturbances.

I am pleased that the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Act was signed into law by the President on 5 December. It provides for body-worn cameras, CCTV for the Garda, automatic number plate recognition and community CCTV. The Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill, which will allow for facial recognition, was agreed and signed off by the Cabinet today.

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