Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The alienation of the young people of the area is replicated elsewhere. We call the people of these areas the people of no property. There is something askew here. It seems that people who have no property and no say, and cannot plan for the future, are being punished. The intergenerational effects of drugs on these areas are phenomenal. Many grandmothers are raising their grandchildren because their children are incapable of doing so due to their addiction issues. Children as young as ten years of age are alienated because they have been groomed and sent out to work for these criminals. We all know who those criminals are. The gardaí know who they are. Young people are being egged on to engage in anti-social behaviour. A guy on his bicycle was attacked along the Grand Canal yesterday or the day before. That happens on a regular basis. The same cohort of young people have been terrorising the neighbourhood since they were eight years of age. They are now 15 years of age. They act as lookouts for criminal drug lords. I would like to have a conversation on these matters in the Seanad. Why do we keep punishing areas like this, instead of enabling and encouraging investment and education in them?