Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As somebody whose grandfather was a garda for almost all of his career a long time ago, I echo those comments. It is important the message go out from this House that we fully support our gardaí in everything they do in trying to keep our streets and communities safe. There is an element of parts of urban areas, in particular, that are not quite no-go zones but are heading in that direction, whereby people do not feel comfortable sometimes even in daytime but especially in the evening and when it is dark, if not so much now then at least during the winter. It is important that we re-establish in those areas, given that many areas are very safe, a significant Garda presence and let the message go out regarding this kind of menacing and antisocial behaviour and these elements of gangland-type activity, which often involve young people who may see it as some kind of fun activity or whatever. That menacing presence in parts of our cities emerged earlier during Covid when there was much less passive surveillance on the streets. Pubs were shut and retail had to close early, and an awful lot of the streets effectively became empty and, therefore, playgrounds for people to do things they would not normally have been able to do.

Some of that activity has continued, and it is important that this House send out the message that it is not okay and that we need to resource the Garda appropriately. The Minister is doing that, but we need to enhance the Garda presence on the streets to tackle this behaviour and make clear it is not acceptable. It will then, I hope, just go away because it will not be tolerated.