Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I proudly represent a diverse constituency that is also one of the youngest in the State. The Minister of State talked about community engagement and the need to foster positive behavioural change. I agree with him. Positive behavioural change is definitely a worthwhile goal for our young people. It is also a worthwhile goal for members of An Garda Síochána.

I draw the Minister of State's attention to the findings of the Irish Network Against Racism study published in the past couple of days. It found that survey participants described traumatic experiences while being stopped by members of An Garda Síochána, including strip searches, property damage and wrongful arrests, some of which had long-lasting psychological impacts. Rural and Dublin groups spoke about concerns about racial profiling and disproportionate stopping of young black men by police. Both groups shared examples. Every word in this report is echoed by the anecdotal experience and evidence from my constituency. I commend the members of An Garda Síochána who undertake community-based activity and are really trying hard. I know them in the area where I live, as does the Minister of State. They are going above and beyond, but what this report tells us is there is a serious issue that has to be addressed.

The report makes a number of recommendations. I will draw the Minister of State's attention to some of them. Sadly, many of them relate to very simple things, such as the collection of data. It is shameful that is not being done. The report also references the establishment of intercultural partnership structures in each division between An Garda Síochána and diverse representatives within minority ethnic communities. That is something that can and should be done.

Young people need to have a respectful attitude to An Garda Síochána and a positive attitude to their engagements but that goes both ways. We cannot expect our young people to have faith in An Garda Síochána unless they can see that replicated and reflected back to them.

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