A story in today's edition of The Irish Times tells us that more than 3,000 999 calls reporting domestic violence were cancelled by the Garda in 2019 and 2020. There is talk of disciplinary action. Would the Tánaiste agree that the number of cancelled calls speaks to something more than sloppy policing by particular members of the Garda? At best, it speaks to me of a failure on the part of the leadership of the Garda to instil and foster a culture of making protection of women and children a high priority. At worst, it could even speak to a culture of misogyny.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties now believes that the very first event organiser of a street protest since the onset of the pandemic to face a €500 fine is Ms Aislinn O'Keeffe of Limerick. She is alleged to have organised a socially distanced protest involving no more than ten people on a wide city street on 18 March on the issue of opposing femicide and domestic violence. She refuses to pay the fine and awaits a court summons. Would the Tánaiste agree with me that prosecution would be a bad look for the Garda in this instance?

I would prefer not to comment on any individual case that is before the courts. I can say that any inappropriate cancellation of 999 calls is a serious issue. The Garda Commissioner has assured the Minister for Justice that when somebody calls 999, they can expect and trust that a member of the Garda will help. That should always be the case and should always have been the case. The Garda Commissioner is before the Policing Authority today and will give a full account of the serious shortcomings that occurred, outline the steps that have been taken to ensure they do not happen again and will answer questions on the matter.