Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. I appreciate her coming here in person. It shows her commitment, the response that she has made all week and the commitment that is there for the community in Cherry Orchard.

We have seen the videos online of what happened and they are horrific. I want to begin by condemning the actions against the two gardaí who went in there. They were treated in the most disgraceful and dangerous way and that is appalling. I express concern for them.

I have been working with community groups in the Cherry Orchard area for quite some time. When one first meets the groups, they will point over to the shadow of the prison walls. Within that community, one is looking over at a huge wall of a prison. One is looking into a community that has one shop that is the ground floor of a converted house. It is not even is a purpose-built shop. There are no main facilities. There is the beacon of light that is the St. Ultan's school and a complex and they have childcare. They have a whole heap of supports that are extraordinary and the people there are extraordinary. There is the work of the equestrian centre and the youth justice programme that is there. However, they are all working in a situation with the gardaí who are based in Ballyfermot Garda station to try at all times to support that community against what is a small minority of organised criminals working in that area and controlling much of what occurs in the area.

People show great initiative. They go out and they work. Some I have spoken to who have bricks through their windows when they take the initiative in their community, for example, when they get concerned and go out and clear the playground of drug paraphernalia. They experience repercussion. They experience intimidation as a consequence of that.

I wrote to the Minister earlier in the year when we were drawing together a group of all the public representatives for the community and I was given a reasonably comprehensive and impressive policing plan and told of meetings, etc., that were going on. I appreciate that the narrative and, quite probably, the truth is that it was retaliation for action by the Garda over the weekend that there was this sudden display of arrogance and contempt for the rule of law but one car coming from Ballyfermot Garda station with two female officers into what was clearly a frightening situation stands in marked contrast to the policing plan that I saw earlier in the year.

According to the discussions I have had on the ground, there are inadequate resources and yet we have a Commissioner who believes that there are adequate resources. I suppose there is a disconnect between the perception in Garda management and the reality and experience on the ground. We need bespoke responses for communities that already feel marginalised, on the edge of society and forgotten and that fear we are losing youth workers. I appreciate that is bigger than the Department. As I said, I will come back to it. We need a cross-departmental task force to respond.

In terms of increased funding this year, they were invited to apply for the Garda youth diversion fund. They got €45,000, which on any day is a good result, but they need a great deal more than that. They need even more resources. I ask for a concerted effort to treat this in the same way that we have other intervention programmes and to dramatically intervene here.