Catherine Ardagh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The task force launched by the Taoiseach in May is related to the central area of Dublin. However, my ask today relates to residential areas in the south of the city, which is some way from the city. It is very much a different space. I take the Minister of State’s point that there might be scope in the future to transfer to the south city what is being learned in the Dublin city centre task force, but we have already seen learnings in the north inner city. It is urgent that we see the creation of a south inner city task force to support communities in residential areas. We cannot wait for more children to die or to read about more shootings, stabbings or absolute mayhem on our streets with car windows being smashed. We need to act now, not just to protect tourists but to protect those living and working in the city and the kids being reared in it. We need a cross-departmental approach, similar to that taken by Mr. Mulvey. A different approach is being taken in the Dublin task force. We need the Department of Education to talk to the Department of Justice. We need to see the HSE involved. This is a big project and it is urgent. We need to see some urgency in respect of the creation of safe inner city task force. We cannot have more people being shot in our city.