Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Slovenian ambassador has left the Chamber but I wish him and his people well. I endorse everything the Cathaoirleach said in that regard.

I acknowledge and admire the contribution of Senator Conway. It is nice to see Breege here with him today. I did not go for a dip at dawn like Senator Conway, but well done. As the Cathaoirleach said in the context of his disability, he is such an advocate. He is always appearing on radio stations and doing things to encourage people who have sight issues. He is always fighting the cause and the case.We all admire that, in fairness. Well done to the Senator.

I return to an issue I have raised on numerous occasions in this House, namely, the way we treat our front-line workers. As I said before, we have debates when something happens or somebody is assaulted and then we move away from the issue. We need to turn back the clock. In the past, there was far better respect for front-line workers. Deputy Alan Farrell recently received figures - I found them shocking - which indicated that 2,080 gardaí have been assaulted while on duty in the past seven years. I understand that in the region of 160 or 170 officers have already been assaulted this year. That is simply not good enough. In the past, I have called for the Minister for Justice to come to the House for a debate on this issue, which, I believe, everybody will support. Such a debate would allow us to call for absolute respect for all our front-line workers, whether they are gardaí, members of the Defence Forces, firefighters, hospital staff or teachers. As Oireachtas Members, we need to make that call. We need to get very serious about this.

Unfortunately, a sizeable minority of people have a tendency to say "Ah well, maybe they have put in for it". What an appalling thing to say when people are on the front line and trying to help others. I am aware that some people's patience may wear thin at times. They may lose their patience, and I am sure they regret it if they do, but it annoys me when quite a number of people can say now that "Maybe that girl put in for it", or "Maybe that nurse or that firefighter put in for that". We cannot have this. As legislators and as Oireachtas Members, we have to be absolutely definite about this. We must carry this debate forward and both ask and tell people to have full respect for all of our front-line workers. The figures for assaults on members of An Garda Síochána are very disturbing. I hope that Senators on sides will back me in calling for a debate solely on this issue