Every person and citizen in this country was rightly concerned by what they saw happening in west Dublin the other night. There is a situation in Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir in County Tipperary whereby we do not have enough gardaí. We are in a frightful state of lack of numbers. Community policing is the only way to deal with these issues. I welcome the newly appointed Sergeant Denis Ryan to Clonmel but the gardaí there have to cover a large area and there is a lack of numbers. The powers that be in An Garda Síochána must stand up and be accountable. I have huge question marks over the stewardship of Commissioner Harris because we have told him this is happening. I certainly told him so two years ago. People in Clonmel are afraid to walk the streets during the day because of open drug dealing, blackguarding and intimidation. There are families and gangs controlling the drug scene and people are frightened out of their lives. There are punishment beatings and everything else. We have seen this happening in other towns and now it is in Clonmel. It is a fine town with fine people who deserve the protection of the Garda, but the force does not have the numbers or the resources to deal with it.

I agree with the Deputy that one of the responses to this issue must be the prioritisation of community policy. Some of the actions I mentioned earlier regarding Cherry Orchard could equally apply in towns and cities right across the country. I agree that one of the key investments we should make within the €2 billion in funding that was provided to An Garda Síochána in budget 2022 is in community policing. I recommend that the Commissioner and his officers look at how we can reinforce the spending on the community policing presence in local areas. That is the best way of addressing the issue.