Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is an understatement to say the ongoing images being transmitted on our television screens on the flooding of the Shannon, from Lough Allen right down to, and more acutely on, the third lake on the Shannon, Lough Derg, are raising considerable concern. One has only got to look at the images coming out of Athlone and further down river, and in south Galway, at the devastation that has been caused. The IFA yesterday indicated that a further 10,000 acres of farmland have now been flooded. It is past time that the Government took remedial action. The multi-agency approach should be abandoned immediately. My party would propose that there would be one co-ordinating agency set up, similar to what has happened in Holland where they got rid of all the agencies involved with their flooding problems, and that the Taoiseach should chair that co-ordinating body as a matter of urgency.

I, therefore, am proposing an amendment to the Order of Business that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, come before the House to outline exactly the Government's proposals. The message, whatever it is in Government Buildings, is not getting through to the general population and it certainly is not getting through to the business people and residents of Leitrim village, Carrick-on-Shannon, Athlone and all down along the river as a result of what is happening with the ESB and the weir at Parteen. All of this is affecting the entire country - this is not a sectional issue - and in any other country, it would be deemed a national crisis. It is heartbreaking to see the interviews with residents in the most beautiful of homes and the water damage that is being done that will probably result in the houses never being restored to their former glory.

I want to get some indication from the Leader as to when the Minister for Justice and Equality will come before the House because it would afford an opportunity to highlight the dramatic increase in crime in Dublin, coupled with the Government's policy of slashing Garda numbers which has resulted in many living in fear in their own homes, in businesses under continuous threat of theft and anti-social behaviour on the streets. The most recent crime statistics show burglaries in Dublin were up almost 15%, year-on-year, rape and sexual assaults up 15.4% and public order offences up 8.4%.

We, on this side of the House, would submit that this cannot continue. In fact, Dublin has almost 700 fewer gardaí this year compared to 2010. Fianna Fáil will reverse this unimaginative and dangerous policy of the Government over the past five years. We will not only restore the totality of the Garda force to 14,000 but also establish a dedicated Garda public order unit for the city centre to combat drug dealing and anti-social behaviour on the capital's main commercial streets. When will there be an opportunity for us to outline these policies in more detail in the House before the Minister for Justice and Equality?