I raise the issue of justice, in particular the presence of gardaí on the streets. In Dublin the other day a young woman was robbed in Long's Place, just off Thomas Street, by an armed man who was casually smoking a cigarette. The reason it is happening is there is no Garda presence on the streets of the cities and towns. That is why criminals believe they can wander around and do stuff like this. In the budget and its commitment to provide additional resources the Government continually falls short. There is a need for an absolute commitment from what is supposed to be the Government of law and order to put in place the resources the Garda requires to be out in the community with community police officers.

All I can say is we have provided in the budget for next year for an extra 1,000 gardaí. That is a significant increase. We have seen repeatedly, year after year, significant increases in Garda numbers across the country.