Deputies:

Hear, hear.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Last Thursday, we experienced two appalling acts of violence on our streets. First, the stabbing of several children and their carer, two of whom remain in hospital as we speak. They are stable, but critical and we pray for their recovery. Second, an ugly far-right protest on our streets led to a riot, looting and serious criminal damage. These events were shocking and unacceptable. It was an attack on the rule of law and there is and will be a robust response from An Garda Síochána and the Government. We need to make sure that Thursday's events were exceptional and do not happen again.

I want people to be and feel safe on our streets. As part of that, the Commissioner has confirmed that two Garda public order units will be deployed in Dublin city centre between now and at least Christmas. They are made up of two inspectors, six sergeants and 42 gardaí, so there will be a visible Garda presence on our streets in the coming weeks. Above all we need to do three things. We need more gardaí, better equipment for our gardaí and stronger laws and more prison places. All those things are already very much under way and were under way before the events of last Thursday, but they need to be accelerated. We now have 14,000 gardaí. About 700 to 800 will go through training this year and about 800 to 1,000 next year. We expect Garda numbers to rise to 14,500 by the end of next year. In addition, more than 3,000 civilian staff free up gardaí for front-line work. We have over 3,000 Garda vehicles - 150 more are on order - we have riot gear for 2,500 gardaí, water cannons are on loan and body cameras will soon be on the way.

We also need to strengthen our laws. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, has already brought in tougher sentences for people who commit serious crimes and attack our gardaí. She has plans for an additional 600 prison spaces to make sure that those who are convicted and given long prison sentences serve them. We also need new laws around the use of facial recognition technology and object recognition technology and dedicated legislation on that is on the way. We will bring in a police powers Bill to give police some of the additional powers they asked for when I visited them in Store Street last week and before the recess the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023 will be enacted. The response is immediate, medium term and long term and it is and will be robust.

It is true, as the Deputy said, that other countries have issued warnings to tourists, including their citizens, who visit Dublin, but she should bear in mind that they issue the same warnings about many large cities around the world, including their own large cities and capital cities. It is important that when Deputy McDonald talks about our city, the one we both live, she puts it in that context. I know she does not want to talk down our city in any way.

I have full confidence in An Garda Síochána, in Garda management, including the Commissioner Harris, and I have full confidence in the Minister, Deputy McEntee. As Minister, she has led and been extremely active on issues of law and order and criminal justice during her term in office. In particular, I draw the Deputy's attention to the success we have had in dealing with organised crime. In previous years, we saw dozens of murders every year. A lot of success and results in that area are down to her work and that of An Garda Síochána. In addition, she has led on the issue of gender-based violence. We are facing an epidemic of violence against women and no Minister has done more about it than her. Look at what is being done in Drogheda, for example, as Deputy O'Dowd spoke about this morning. These are the results she has been involved in making happen and her work continues.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I believe Deputy McDonald is not listening. She is not listening to parents. She is not listening to Dubliners. She is not listening to citizens all over the country. They do not want to hear her playing politics when it comes to an important issue like this.

Deputies:

Hear, hear.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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They are not interested in that. They do not want to see her trying to score points and improve her poll ratings or looking for heads. What they want is action from the Government so they feel safe on our streets. I want people to be safe and feel safe on our streets. That is why we are responding with more gardaí, better equipment for our gardaí and stronger laws. All of those things are happening under the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and we will continue and accelerate that action.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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Táimid ar fad ag déanamh brón le comhphobal Ghaelscoil Mhuire agus leo siúd atá fós san ospidéal. Uppermost in all our thoughts and minds today are those who were so brutally attacked on Parnell Square last Thursday - the little girl and the care worker still in hospital; the other children injured and traumatised in the attack; their families, friends, classmates and communities. We think of all of them and send them our very best wishes. We commend those whose courageous interventions prevented even more devastation on Thursday. We also send our thoughts and solidarity to those gardaí and first responders, transport and council workers and others who were terrorised while doing their jobs or peacefully going about their business in Dublin on Thursday, and those who had to clean up after the wanton destruction that resulted from the awful riots we saw that evening. I condemn outright the outrageous violence we saw unfold on our streets, the streets of our capital city.

Nobody here has a monopoly on the distress we all feel in the aftermath of last Thursday but there must be accountability for what occurred. Those shocking events have brought home to us all the true extent of the crisis in policing, particularly policing in Dublin, that has developed under the watch of this Government. On Friday, the Commissioner Harris asserted that nobody could have anticipated the riots, but that is simply not credible. Long before last week, we saw despicable events orchestrated by the far right across the country, including anti-migrant protests, anti-LGBT protests outside libraries and people burnt out of tents on Mount Street. Everyone in this House is aware of the hate and disinformation that is being spread, especially about immigration. I am sorry to say there are high-profile individuals in this country and people in this House and in the Seanad who have used language about immigration that has undoubtedly contributed to the spread of that disinformation.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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Hear, hear.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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I hope those individuals, and they know who they are, are reflecting today.

There is no one in this country who did not anticipate that the far right might seek to orchestrate unrest in our capital. On Thursday, what we saw was a perfect storm, a complete collapse of order on our streets through a combination of failures, namely, failure to tackle the far right and failure to address the triple crisis of morale, recruitment and retention within the Garda. There were failures at operational level, for which the Commissioner and senior gardaí are responsible. There were failures at political and government level for which the Minister for Justice and all in this Government are responsible. We in the Labour Party have no confidence in this Government's handling of policing. Week in, week out, our representatives have been raising the triple crisis facing the Garda on morale, recruitment and retention. We know what is needed, and that is a stronger response against the far right and, crucially, more gardaí. We need more community gardaí and more gardaí on our streets. We should be reaching for more people and more personnel in the Garda Síochána. That is what the Garda is seeking too - front-line gardaí.

It seems the best Fine Gael can offer is more powers. The Taoiseach cannot legislate his way out of this. How will the Government address whole-of-government failures on policing? Will it move to initiate an independent review into the failures which allowed a small group of people last week to destroy property, injure our police and terrorise our community? We must see accountability and know why those failures occurred.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising Gaelscoil Choláiste Mhuire, the childcare facility nearby which the children were being brought to and the people who intervened to help stop the attack on Thursday. Many more people would have been injured and perhaps killed had those brave people not gone with their instincts and intervened in the way they did. All of us send our solidarity to Gaelscoil Chólaiste Mhuire and the childcare facility concerned.

I had the opportunity to ring the owner of the childcare facility and speak to the principal of the school a few days ago and to offer them any help the Government possibly can, not just now but in the weeks and months ahead. They have received support from the National Educational Psychological Service. The main advice they have been given is, as much as possible, though it almost sounds impossible, to make things as normal as possible for the children in the school and childcare facility in the coming days. That is the advice they have been given and it is important we respect and comply with that ourselves.

I had the opportunity on Sunday night to meet some of those who intervened in the attack. I was given five names by the Garda; four were able to attend, from Ireland, Brazil and France. I thanked them for what they did to stop the attack. Without it, there would have been more injuries and loss of life.

On the management of protests, The Garda has policed 700 protests in the past year. Protests are commonplace in Ireland, as they are in any democracy. It is important we facilitate peaceful protests. The gardaí on the scene make a decision on an operational basis. None of us are experts in policing protests. Gardaí make a decision on the scene as to what approach is appropriate and escalate as they believe appropriate. Of course, there will be a review into what occurred on Thursday. An initial review is under way from the Garda Commissioner. The Policing Authority, I think, has the authority to carry out a further review, though we will have to check on that.

I concur with the Deputy on some of the language some people have used in Leinster House and beyond it in relation to migration. It is a difficult topic to talk about as politicians but we have to talk about it. It would be a mistake not to. Some of what has been said has stirred up prejudices and there are people on the far right in politics who will want to stir up further discord and encourage further violence. We have incitement to hatred legislation. I do not think it is strong enough or up to date enough. I know this House agrees because it has voted for the new legislation already. It is now in the Seanad. Even under existing legislation, the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation has a number of investigations under way.

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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What we need to see from the Government is action. We need to see three actions in particular. First is conducting an independent and urgent review into what went wrong in order that we can see proper accountability. A Policing Authority review is not enough. We need to see the inspectorate going in. We need an independent review of what went wrong. We also need to see a real commitment from Government to tackling and targeting the far right and ensuring intelligence-led policing is taking it on. Third, we need a commitment from Government to give front-line gardaí the resources they need, ensure we have more personnel and not allow the numbers to drop – as they have – below 4,000. We need that commitment urgently from Government.

The key issue will be accountability. We saw over the weekend some political grandstanding on this issue and calls not just from Opposition but, it seems now, members of the Taoiseach’s partners in government, a Fianna Fáil Senator most recently, for heads to roll. That is grandstanding and playacting at a time when people in this country and city are calling out for political leadership and unity of purpose against the awful threat of the far right. We need to see unity of purpose and we are not even seeing it from Government. We see Fianna Fáil speaking with one voice in the media, yet rowing in on the Government benches behind the Minister and the Government.

There is a whole-of-government failure here. All of those in government must take responsibility for failing to address the key crisis within An Garda Síochána, which undoubtedly contributed to the breakdown of law and order we saw in our city last Thursday night.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Bacik has suggested an independent review by the Garda Síochána Inspectorate. We will give consideration to that. It may well be a very good idea. I do not want to commit to it on the hoof on the floor of the House but I will certainly give it consideration. I thank the Deputy for her constructive remarks. She is absolutely right that accountability is required. Before we jump to any judgment on what happened on Thursday night and on whether there were errors on behalf of the gardaí, the Minister or the Commissioner, of course we would carry out a review first. That is proper accountability. What we see from the main Opposition party and from others, as Deputy Bacik points out, is grandstanding - judge, jury and executioner, and sure we will do the review afterwards. That is not how politics should be conducted and it is actually not what the people want.

Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent)
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On the same theme, the events that took place on the streets of our capital city last Thursday night will haunt people's memories for many years to come. A knife attack on innocent children is the most despicable form of violence. People are sickened by what took place outside that school. It has rattled them to the very core. Above all, people need to know that their children are safe. They need to know that the streets in our cities, in our towns and in our villages are safe. Those who swept through the city streets last week were not seeking justice for the school incident. They had been waiting in the wings for a reason to riot. They were ready for an opportunity to take the law into their own hands. People in every corner of the country robustly and justifiably condemn the scenes of vicious hostility and pillaging they witnessed.

Recently in the Dáil I addressed the Taoiseach on the resentment that is simmering in towns and villages across Ireland. This genuine and heartfelt anger is not coming from organised factions; it is coming from ordinary people. People are filled with pent-up worry, fear and frustration at how their communities have changed due to the influx of international protection applicants. It has reached the stage where people-----

Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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This is the sort of language that just goes on to-----

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy Bacik, please.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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He cannot help it.

Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent)
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It has reached the stage where people fear the Department will target every vacant building in their communities. I want to say that the Irish people are not racist, and I am not racist.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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Really? Go home and collect your money.

Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent)
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They have welcomed, and I have welcomed, the victims of the war in Ukraine with open arms. They have willingly opened their hearts to those in need. However, I believe it is time to modify and rebalance our immigration policy.

The events of last week taught us about the critical role of our gardaí in society and the urgent necessity to focus on the limitations of the force. The images of rank and file gardaí entering last week's volatile eruption were frightening. Our gardaí on duty were brave and courageous in the face of hostility. I believe the Garda Commissioner's comments, "We responded as the events unfolded", sum up the situation. I believe that this approach and response was an abject failure of management and policing policy. It was a humiliating operational failure. It has been obvious for some time that the policy of Garda management in standing back with a softly, softly approach does not work. Reluctance to confront protesters and a passive approach emboldens the perpetrators. It is long past time to take the gloves off with these hooligans. The gardaí are under more surveillance than the criminals themselves. The level of bureaucracy and procedure, with the excessive focus on discipline, has left our force in fear of acting. The spontaneity, decisiveness and discretion of Garda members is suppressed. Gardaí tell us that they are paralysed with the threat of investigation, suspension or sanction. Our Garda force is under enormous pressure. Every member of this House has a responsibility to ensure we provide the necessary resources, equipment and technology it urgently needs and deserves.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy. More than ever, all of us in this House need to be willing to talk about migration and to do so in a fair way.

I want to make the case for migration and why it is a good thing for Ireland. When I go into any hospital in Ireland, including ones in which I have worked, I see a very diverse workforce. Many of the doctors, nurses and other staff who looked after the stabbing victims come from other parts of the world. When I go into high-tech or pharmaceutical companies - the ones paying massive taxes to the State - I see a diverse workforce. I know those companies would not be in Ireland were it not for the fact that they can recruit staff from all over the world. We would not have the money we now have for health, education or housing were it not for the migrants who come to Ireland and work in those companies. When I go to a restaurant, café or shop, I see a diverse workforce as well. Ireland would not be the country it is, we would not have the public services we have and, in all ways imaginable, Ireland would not be a better place in any way I can think of were it not for the fact that so many people come here legally to take up work, study and visit. It is important that we all have the courage as politicians to make the case in favour of migration to the State.

A lot of people, particularly people of colour in Ireland, are very afraid because of what happened on Thursday night. I have spoken to business owners who had to close their shops or offices early because staff, particularly staff who are brown or black, were afraid of what might happen to them. More than ever, we all need to understand - me, Deputy Lowry and everyone - the effects our words might have when talking about the issue of migration. That is not for a second to dismiss concerns people may have. If a large number of people move into a local area, town or village, of course people will have concerns which need to be addressed and answered. Of course there is a difference between people who come to the country legally and those who arrive irregularly. The amount of control we exert over that, as with any state, is limited. The United Kingdom, for example, has proposed a hostile environment for migration for many years. That is the term it uses; it is not my term. It left the European Union in part to take back control of borders. The front page of the Financial Timesduring the week stated there were record numbers of migrants and immigrants going to the UK for lots of different reasons. We need to be honest with people about all of these issues.

Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent)
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I thank the Taoiseach for his response. I fully understand and appreciate the value of migration. His final comments address the issue I am raising, which I raised in the past with him, about the influx of people. I am not hindering their opportunity to come to Ireland but local people are extremely concerned about the numbers arriving in their small villages and towns without the support and services needed to address their care. That is happening on a wide scale around rural Ireland. It needs to be addressed. We need not mix that up; I am talking about illegal migration. I think everyone in this House knows, as does the Minister, that I have been very supportive of the Minister in his work in County Tipperary and rural Ireland. We need to address the issue of illegal migration.

Finally, there is a lot of grandstanding on this issue. I will not support a vote of no confidence in the Minister or in the Commissioner because I believe doing so would give in to the hooligans who take pleasure and delight in seeing a response to their actions.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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Says a convicted criminal.

Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent)
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Say that on the record. You are a lout, that is what you are.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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I am not a criminal though, like you; a convicted criminal.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I appreciate Deputy Lowry's bona fides in this matter. It is important to say that people who come to Ireland to seek international protection are not necessarily here illegally. Under our laws, people can seek international protection in Ireland and their status only becomes illegal when their application has been refused and a deportation issued. It is important that people do not conflate those seeking international protection with people who are here illegally. It is not the same thing.

On what the Deputy said about people's concerns, I understand and appreciate those concerns. I know them from my constituency and from around the country. When a large number of people from any background are accommodated in your parish, town or village, of course there will be concerns about the impact on education, law and order and health.

Yes, we need to respond to that. We have established community engagement programmes to give people proper information about what is happening. We have the community-----

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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Recognition.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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-----recognition fund to recognise communities that have accepted a lot of people. I know we need to do a lot more to make sure the schools and GP services in particular are properly equipped. There are a lot of challenges to doing that, but we know we have to act in those areas.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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This afternoon our first thoughts are with a little girl and her carer who are gravely ill in hospital following a horrific knife attack. Second, we extend our heartfelt thanks to those who intervened, and to all the services for helping protect our capital city from mindless violence, and far right-fuelled hatred and fury. However, I want to raise the broader issue of migration policy in Ireland, both at national and local level, and to ask him as our Taoiseach to lead that discussion and communicate with and listen to those people who now feel excluded from that discussion. Last Friday night a potential public order situation was developing in Dromahair, County Leitrim, where rumours circulated that buses carrying migrants were about to arrive in the village. Crowds gathered, and I believe some outsiders arrived and some illegal checkpoints were set up, which should never have happened. The concerned residents of Dromahair called An Garda Síochána, and 90 minutes later two gardaí, who I believe were covering most if not all of north County Leitrim, arrived as soon as they could. As it turned out, no bus arrived and the situation dissipated. While I will raise the issue of Garda resources later with the Minister, Deputy McEntee, I ask why did this happen. How did this situation develop?

I do not have all of the answers, but I know this much. A few weeks ago I met with concerned residents in Dromahair when the Department wrote to inform them that 155 international protection, IP, applicants would arrive in their village. I contacted the Department asking for support for a village that has no community centre, whose national school has an emergency application in for two additional classrooms, where they are fundraising for a decent surface for their pitch and where their medical centre is already chock-a-block. I got no response - nothing. Thanks to the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, the Department is now meeting them, but that is after Friday night. That is putting out fires. That is not proactive migration policy.

Will the Taoiseach speak openly and honestly to the Irish people? Will he fill that policy vacuum, and clearly articulate his migration policy to give people a sense that he and his Government are in control and in charge? It was recently reported that the Taoiseach spoke about the need to slow the flow of migration and to be realistic about the supports offered. Is that the Taoiseach's view and is it Government policy? Crucially, will his Government really work proactively with communities like Dromahair concerned residents who told three TDs at a meeting last Sunday that they will be first in line to help support and integrate families who may arrive in their village? However, they need to be assisted, enabled and to have their community capacity built to do so. Trust in communities is a fragile thing, and cohesion even more so. I am asking the Taoiseach to help restore both.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Harkin. I am aware of the situation in Dromahair. I have only been briefed about it but only today and I do not want to comment on it in detail in case I do not have all the facts. I am told that a community engagement team has been set up, and it has been engaging with Deputies Feighan, Harkin and Kenny in an effort to set out exactly what is and is not happening in Dromahair. Deputy Harkin asked what our immigration and migration policy is. Let me be as clear as I can be, and sometimes it is difficult to be clear because this is not straightforward. There are different types of migration and different types of migrants. The situation is that anybody who is a UK or Irish citizen has a right to live in this country. Anybody who is an EU or EEA citizen has a right to live, work, study and do business in this country, just as we can in all of their countries too.

That is what it means to be part of the European Union. I think the advantages of that outweigh the disadvantages manifold, and people have voted that way in referendums on many occasions.

When it comes to anyone else, in order to enter the country, a person requires a visa. It might be a work visa, it might be a student visa or it might be a work permit. Of course vetting occurs in those instances. Separate to that, we have people who arrive from Ukraine under the temporary protection directive. They have a right to be here under European law. We do our best to accommodate them as best we can. They have the right to work and study.

Then we have people who arrive in an irregular manner. Under international law, and just as is the case in Italy, Britain, France and America, they can apply for protection. Our job is to assess their applications as quickly as possible, give them legal status if they are entitled to it and, if they are not, to issue deportation orders and ensure those are enforced.

This is our migration policy. I know it is not simple and I know it is not straightforward, but it cannot be, as life is not straightforward and the world is not straightforward. There are different people coming from different countries for different reasons. That is the policy that we have.

Finally, regarding the terrible events that occurred on Parnell Square on Thursday, I really would ask people to try to avoid connecting crime with migration. It is not right.

Deputies:

Hear, hear.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Yes, of course people who are migrants might commit crimes, just as people who are not commit crimes. In a country of 5.3 million people, if there are hundreds of thousands of migrants, there are going to be a few of them who commit terrible crimes, just as there are people born and bred in Ireland who commit terrible crimes every day, including murder. When I look at what happened on Parnell Square, what I see is a suspect who is a migrant, although a citizen and someone who has been here for over 20 years. I see a five-year-old child in hospital today, both her parents coming from migrant backgrounds, with her born in Ireland. Of the five or six people who intervened to stop the attack, four of them were migrants to this country. It is totally wrong to try to make out that there is a connection between crime and migration based on what happened on Parnell Street.

Deputies:

Hear, hear.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Of the alleged assailant, the victims and those who stopped the attack, most are from migrant backgrounds.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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I agree with most of what the Taoiseach said. I certainly have not heard anyone in the Chamber today conflate terrible crimes with migrants. There is no evidence to support that. I am also not grandstanding and looking for the head of the Minister. As I said to the Taoiseach at the end of my initial comments, this is the time for cohesion and we need to see how we can work together.

However, there is also a reluctance to grasp the nettle sometimes and to be honest with people. It is not enough to say Irish people are generous and welcoming. They are, but that is not enough. This is a very sensitive and complicated issue. I agree with the Taoiseach that it is global and national, but people are looking to the Government to have an honest and open discussion about its overall policy and the granular detail in terms of how that policy is being managed and how communities can respond to it in a positive way and not putting out fires after the fact, which is terrible for communities and is driving division. The Taoiseach knows it and I know it. It is the Government’s responsibility to stop that happening.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Thanks very much, Deputy. When it comes to concerns about migration - I talk to a lot of people about this all the time – I do not think the vast majority of people gave huge concerns about people coming to Ireland from the UK or the European Union, or about people coming here with work visas or student visas from outside the European Union. There is a real concern around irregular migration – people arriving here seeking international protection. Precisely because it is so hard to manage, we do not know how many will arrive on any given day, where they will be from or what documents they will have. Contrary to what you will hear and to what is being spread about the place, the number of people seeking international protection in Ireland this year will be lower than last year. It will be roughly 13,000 this year, down from 15,000 the year before. That is in part because of actions we have taken as the EU to secure the external borders of the European Union and also in this State in terms of managing our own borders better.

However, it is naive to think any Government can stop the flow entirely when there are hundreds of millions of people on the move in the world. Within weeks of a Government being elected in Italy very much the basis of on an anti-migration platform, more people landed on the island of Lampedusa than live there. We saw the attempts of former President Trump in the US. Huge numbers of people arrived throughout his presidency. We also know what is happening in the UK. We have to be honest with people about this. The world is a dangerous place. Europe is paradise, and Ireland is one of the best parts of paradise for most people in the world. Hundreds of millions of people are on the move. Thousands will come here and we just have to manage that as well as we can.