Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support the amendment proposed by Senator Doherty to the Order of Business to take No. 10 before No. 1, regarding the Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) (Control of Nitrous Oxide) Bill 2023. It is incredibly important that we bring this forward. I am chair of a drugs task force and am aware of the increase in nitrous oxide use. The view of some parents that it is safe and that it is a recreational thing to do in the home is really quite shocking when, in fact, it has damaged young people. Young people have received cognitive impairment that they will never recover from as a consequence of this and it is time it was put on the footing that is set out in that Bill.

I stand today to comment on last Thursday and absolutely condemn the violence and what we saw, first of all, the attack on the children and the care worker. Our prayers are for them; for that little girl and that care worker. Second, I condemn the violence that we saw on the street and applaud the incredible bravery of members of the public, as well as An Garda Síochána. We cannot depart from the fact that there is a central role here of social media in this. I, too, saw the messages in community groups and people being anxious on Thursday afternoon as the country of origin of the assailant in the incident was being put out on social media. There was a very quick move to then brand all migrants in the same way and I agree with Senator Dooley that we need a debate in this House on that. We need to hold Members to account for some of the inflammatory statements that have been made in this House and draw attention to the fact that if one is in public life, one has a duty to lead with integrity and to ensure that one is not inflaming situations.

This brings me to the notorious Conor McGregor and the fact that his statements were also being pasted into community groups as they utterly condemned what he was saying on Twitter, formerly X, on Thursday afternoon. It is a matter for the Garda. It is not for me to question beyond that other than to say the following in respect of someone in a position like him. There was one time when he was a hero for people in the community. He worked with Crumlin Boxing Club, and they were fantastic. There are men in there who dedicate their lives to the mentoring of young people right down the right direction and he is, most certainly, not one of them. We need to also hold Twitter to account.