Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the Minister being here in person to discuss this. I have raised issues of crime, criminality and anti-social behaviour in Dublin’s northside for at least a year. The responses from the Minister and his office have been disappointing.

There has been a shooting, a pipe bomb incident, and a shooting incident outside Donaghmede Shopping Centre. There is currently great media interest and focus on the area because of three murders in the past week. What will the Government’s response to this be? To be fair to the Government, when a similar situation arose in the north inner city, there was a very high-level response from the Government. There were high-level meetings with stakeholders in St. Lawrence O’Toole school then, and a very hands-on approach, including the commission of the Mulvey report, which is still being implemented. The discussions were not merely on a policing response but also took place with various agencies involved in youth empowerment and there were anti-poverty measures.

What is the Government’s response to this situation? Will the Minister and the Government engage a Mulvey-style report for Dublin 17 and the wider area? Is the Minister aware that a neighbouring community is due to expand its population to 50,000 and that community is campaigning for a Garda station as part of its infrastructure? Will the Minister sit down with Sphere 17 youth services and the Preparing for Life group in Darndale which are making fantastic inroads into parental empowerment in that area, with great success? There are other agencies such as RASP drugs services, Doras Buí, and Northside Partnership, all of which have things to say. I spoke to two school principals in recent days. They are worried about the long-term impact this will have on children in the immediate area if this becomes normalised. They walk past Garda tape and dead bodies, or they hear gunshots. This is not normal and it cannot be seen to be normal. We have a responsibility to the future of these children that they feel that the hand of the State is lifting them up, so that when something like this happens, the State will intervene and shoulder their cares and there is political and governmental leadership.

Will the Government please recognise that there is a problem in this area of the city which is spiralling out of control, and that it is the responsibility of the Taoiseach and the Government to show the leadership and be in these communities, talking to the people who care passionately about those communities, because we are losing the battle? Why is it that young men are only too willing to take the place of those who have just been murdered? We must change our drug policy and the policing policy on that side of the city. We need the resources but we must also talk about youth empowerment. I ask the Minister, the Taoiseach, and all others who have influence in this area to commission a Mulvey-style report for Dublin 17 and wider communities so that investment can start flowing, policing can be enhanced, and we do not see a return to the type of bloodshed we have seen over the past week.