Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is to the eternal credit of the Irish people that in spite of the very severe austerity measures we have had, they have not resorted to anti-social behaviour which, as we have seen, is so damaging in other countries. There is certainly no justification for the manner in which the Tánaiste was treated, which was quite despicable, and certainly no justification for the manner in which the city councillors were treated because it was anti-democratic. Having said that, there is a very strong perception abroad that the manner in which a Member of the Oireachtas and two councillors were arrested in the early hours of the morning by between six and 12 gardaí in one or more cases has left a big question mark.

We are all well aware of arrests that take place for much more serious crimes than those alleged in these cases. It would be a matter of one or two gardaí turning up to arrest the person or the person in question going to the local barracks by appointment. We have seen that with some major figures.

The Garda Síochána is one of the finest police forces in the world. The Garda serves us well. The Garda puts up with a good deal of abuse, physical and otherwise. We must be careful that the message we have seen on television does not in some way indicate that a Member of the Oireachtas and two councillors are treated differently because of a water protest. I have registered to pay my water charges. I never advocated that people should go down that negative road. There is always a tipping point and we need to be careful that we put the lid on this issue of the past few days. Let normal procedures apply. Let due process apply as well. Let us be careful of the histrionics. From my experience contrived histrionics always backfire.