Eileen Flynn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is very welcome to the House to discuss this very important Bill. I will not repeat anything my colleague, Senator Ruane, has raised. I agree with every point she made. As a community development worker who has worked for more than 16 years with communities that are overpoliced, I will make one point. In my lifetime, I have seen cases where the doors of members of the Traveller community have been kicked in and cots in mobile homes have been thrown aside. In one case, a newborn baby was in the cot. Coming up to Christmas, funnily enough, we always have raids in the Labre Park site. Unfortunately, the way gardaí approach many members of the Traveller community is not as human beings and it is not nice. I have seen this many times. In April last year, a pregnant woman was shoved by a member of the Garda.

Bodycams are obviously not available now but even when they become available, as Senator Ruane rightly said, gardaí can choose when they turn them on and off. That is unfair. If a person's house is going to be raided, it should be clear that this Bill will work in favour of ordinary people and members of the Garda. Having the Garda investigating the Garda, as we have seen, has not worked. I remember one case where a garda in Ballyfermot came into Labre Park. I will never forget it; it was 11 December 2017. His words, and this is no word of a lie, were "You pack of scummy knackers." I was in the garden with a few of the young lads. I will never forget how horrible it made me feel as an individual and how it made the young men around me feel. When I reported the crime, in which a garda called people names on the site, GSOC took two years to come back to me. It stated the Garda had investigated the garda involved and there was no case.

Unfortunately, some groups are overpoliced. We should be investing in youth work and good community development services that can empower communities to empower themselves if they want to do so. Not everyone from a low economic backgrounds is a bad person or member of the Traveller community.

Does the Bill include a plan to protect the most vulnerable people in society? I totally get that gardaí obviously have to do their jobs. I am nearly 34 years of age. One of my first memories from the site is of raids by gardaí and how they spoke to members of the Traveller community. Of course, it is not all gardaí. Just as not all Travellers are bad people, not all gardaí are bad. I get that but young children should not have their door pushed in and should not be referred to as "scum" and "knackers". Just a few years ago on the site, a 13-year-old child's bike was taken away from him. I did not want to get involved. It was shortly after the taxi incident and I did not want to raise it in the House. I remember saying to the garda, "Ah, come on", because he had come onto the site to overpolice and took a 13-year-old child's bike. I was told he could get the bike back if he brought identification. I said he was 13 years of age and would not have identification. The child's mother and father went and sorted it out but, again, children aged just 13 and 14 are being targeted by some members of the Garda, although not all of them.

We are putting in place facial recognition technology, bodycams and all these other things so gardaí can do their jobs. Can the Minister give a guarantee that the legislation will protect the communities that are already overpoliced? As Senator Ruane asked, do people have choices? If a garda comes to our door, do we get to say "Turn on your camera" or "Turn off your camera"? The Bill needs an awful lot of teasing out for communities that are already overpoliced.