Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I could not agree more with the Minister about what needs to be done in the long term in relation to this. Yet, unfortunately, at the moment, they do not have the resources. That covers every aspect of community activity. I have lived in Dublin 15 for the past 30 years and I have seen criminal gangs come and go. Unfortunately, we are in another age and era where there is a cycle of brutal violence going on in Dublin 15. We saw it at Christmas when there was a double murder on Christmas Eve, when people were sitting down to enjoy a Christmas Eve meal. Since then, more than a dozen houses have been burned, and were burned to the ground in some cases. Other people have been forced to leave because of threats and intimidation. That is continuing and ongoing to this day. Many of the attacks are being carried out by very young teenagers. They have been groomed over the past couple of years by this criminal gang. We need to break the cycle, but we need to have that proper investment in our communities. We need early intervention and we need youth and drug services to be properly resourced. I will give the example of Genesis counselling service. I think it was last year that I asked for extra resources for it. It cannot deal with the number of people who are looking for those resources. We need that support, but we need it now. We cannot wait for the partnerships. We need it now.

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