Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The rioting and violent disorder we saw in Dublin City last Thursday evening was a disgrace and I condemn it in the strongest terms.

I commend An Garda Síochána for their courageous and selfless work in restoring order and all the emergency services for their quick and effective response to both incidents.

As the Deputy is aware, I have provided additional resources for overtime in the capital, and the Government are determined to maintain the momentum now building in Garda recruitment to increase the number of Gardaí on the ground.

I was also pleased to recently allocate an additional €4.4 million for the purchase of 95 extra Garda cars and vans by the end of this year, including 17 public order Garda vans which will be deployed in our towns and cities across the country to provide further reassurance for people, businesses and communities.

I can assure the Deputy that I am committed to putting in place whatever resources and statutory powers An Garda Síochána requires to keep the public safe and secure.

Recent legislation provides for substantially increased sentences for a range of offences. This includes doubling the maximum sentence for assault causing harm to 10 years; increasing the sentence for conspiracy to murder from 10 years to life; and increasing the sentence for assaulting a Garda or emergency worker from 7 to 12 years.

The Garda Commissioner has made clear that the existing public order legislative framework provides him with an effective suite of legislative options to pursue prosecutions in relation to the type of behaviour we witnessed last Thursday.

But I am also clear that there are areas of our criminal law that need to be further strengthened. The Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill will, among other things, create new whole of Government community safety structures across the entire country. It is progressing through the Houses and I want to see it enacted as soon as possible.

The Digital Recording Bill will facilitate Automatic Number Place Recognition (ANPR), streamline community CCTV and allow for the rollout of body worn cameras. I also intend to bring a general scheme for a Garda Síochána (Digital Management and Facial Recognition Technology) Bill to Government in the coming weeks. This Bill will enable Gardaí to use facial recognition technology in limited circumstances to assist in identifying offenders in respect of serious violent offences. I intend to include riot and violent disorder among the offences for which this technology may be used. It is a waste of resources to have Gardaí manually reviewing thousands of hours of CCTV footage after an incident such as last week's, delaying the arrest and prosecution of those responsible.

I will also bring forward proposals to Government to update the powers available to our security and law enforcement services to lawfully access communications including the interception of communications; along with enhanced safeguards; oversight arrangements and stronger obligations on service providers in order to ensure these important powers are fit for purpose in dealing with online threats and criminal activity.