Seanad debates

Monday, 31 May 2021

An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business

 

10:30 am

Photo of Gerry HorkanGerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I was delighted to hear Senator Burke mention Swinford because, as he knows, that is the birthplace of my grandfather. I believe every Horkan in the country originally came from there. I am delighted that the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Deputy Humphreys, is there today.

I would be more than happy to speak about what happened at the weekend, which has been covered so often. Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had a protecting upland and rural environments, PURE, policy relating to upland dumping in the mountains. It is all about leaving no trace. It is all very well that we need more bins and we have more traffic wardens, dog wardens and litter wardens, but it is down to people's personal responsibility. People have to behave properly. Of course, when alcohol is involved people occasionally lose the run of themselves but, by and large, if one goes to a beach, a park or elsewhere, one should bring what one has. Ideally, there should be more rubbish bins. Hopefully, however, this will all change. We will have outdoor dining in the next week. I asked the Leader a few weeks ago if this could be reopened earlier. Between 700 and 800 pubs in Dublin will be open next week for outdoor activity, and they all have toilets which will be available to people to use as they are public houses. The sooner we have the pubs open, both outdoor and indoor, the more we will spread the burden and there will not be a focus on illegal drinking, as that is what it is under the law, taking place.

The point I wish to raise relates to a report that was commissioned by the Association of Irish Local Government about the intimidation of councillors, both online and in person. It was published last week and is a comprehensive document. The association surveyed its 949 local authority members, who elected many of the Members of this House, and there were 223 responses. Almost a quarter of the members gave a response, which is a phenomenal response rate. They pointed out that people have been subject to violence, threats of violence, threats of sexual violence, death threats in some cases and threats to their family members. I call on the Deputy Leader to have a debate on that report as soon as we can and certainly before the summer recess. It is a comprehensive report.

Councillors do a great deal of work. Almost every Member of the House has been a member of a local authority. My apologies to any Member who was not, but almost every Member in the Chamber at present was. Social media has accentuated this problem and we must tackle it properly, both with the social media companies and also by engaging with the public and saying it is not okay to intimidate public representatives, either anonymously or to people's faces.

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