Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Like my colleagues, I extend my sympathies to the Henry and the de Buitléar families on their bereavements. I would also like to comment on the senseless death of Detective Garda Donohoe. It makes no sense to any of us how a gang, no matter how heinous, would target a situation that was actually armed. That sort of occurrence is extremely unusual and that fact must be brought to bear when these men are brought to justice. It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever that they would knowingly enter into a situation in which they would have been dealing with members of the Garda Síochána. Like others speakers, in particular Senator Brennan, I would welcome co-operation between the Garda and the PSNI and would appeal to the public, especially in the area where this occurred, to provide any information, no matter how insignificant it may appear, to the Garda to bolster its efforts to bring these men to justice as soon as possible. I agree with previous speakers that today is not the day for the debate but it raises the point that these people, who are at the front line on a daily basis protecting the citizens of this country and all aspects of our lives, including the financial aspect, which unfortunately was the case here, should be given the resources they require.

I would also like to commend the work of the Dublin joint policing committee, which I attend. It is not until one actually has regular interaction with the gardaí that one sees how responsive they are and how they take on board the suggestions made by various interested parties - politicians and others - to contribute to the overall security of the country.

I would also like to support the comments of Senator Hayden regarding the Constitutional Convention. I was very pleasantly surprised by the interactions and debate that occurred at the convention. It is a work in progress and this has never been done before. It is very novel and I was quite hesitant before attending and thought that it may not have the teeth we might like it to have. Certainly all areas of society are represented in the convention and I believe very good proposals will come from it. I hope the Government will listen to those proposals when the time comes. Senator Hayden's suggestion that we invite the Chairman, Tom Arnold, to the House so that we can contribute to the convention is a very good one.