James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The events on South Anne Street late on Saturday night were some of the worst and most shocking scenes we have seen in our city since the Dublin riots. As the Taoiseach said, we are all thinking of the family of the victim and of the victims who were subjected to the violent attacks that took place in Stoneybatter. The pretext for the Dublin city centre task force established by the Tánaiste was safety in our city. It was a recognition and a reflection that increased numbers of gardaí in our city centre alone will not be enough to improve the outlook of our city and make Dublin the city we all know it can be. There was a lot of discussion here about the lack of Garda resources and the lack of gardaí in the city centre. There has been an increase in Garda patrols. We need to commend the responsiveness of An Garda Síochána, particularly in the way it carried out the investigation into the incident on Saturday night and its speedy response to the significant danger it faced in Stoneybatter. However, we need this task force to be up and running and the recommendations need to be implemented. The only way those recommendations can be implemented is if they are matched by funding. I very much welcome that it is coming to the Government in the next few weeks and I sincerely hope it will include funding commitments.

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