Order, please.

We all continue to keep the victims of Thursday's awful attacks uppermost in our thoughts, particularly the child and care worker who are still in hospital. However, all of us, especially those of us in Dublin, are still waiting for a clear message from the Minister about what real action she and the rest of the Government are taking now to make the streets safe. We know the problem. There are simply not enough gardaí, including visible gardaí, and not enough support for front-line gardaí, who are, it seems, forced to communicate by WhatsApp. There has been a hands-off approach to policing the far right for far too long. Government TDs have been quick to accuse others of grandstanding and distracting from the crisis facing us. Undoubtedly, there has been grandstanding from the Opposition, including the waving in this House of a photograph of an identifiable person.

The Deputy has not seen it. She is bluffing.

It is outrageous grandstanding, and I want to call it out. I want to call out the waving in this House of a photograph of an identifiable individual on our streets. That is wrong.

The individual is not identifiable.

However, I also believe we have seen grandstanding by those in government, by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael members who are desperately seeking to evade accountability by churning out calls that will do anything but address the real crisis facing policing. We have heard red herring calls, such as calls for cuts to benefits and for facial recognition technology, water cannons, dogs and more police powers.

We warned yesterday that the Minister cannot legislate her way out of this crisis – it is not about that – nor can she distract us with political theatre, such as asking the Policing Authority to provide clarity on the use of force. That is a farcical question because we know the Garda Commissioner and senior management are responsible for providing the training and guidance to gardaí on the proportionate use of force. The Policing Authority is not a legal adviser. Who has made this request and why? Was it the Commissioner who asked for clarity on the use of force, or is it merely a distraction tactic of the Minister? What people really want now is reassurance that our streets will be safe and attacks and riots will not happen again. We need accountability and more visible policing, not grandstanding from the Opposition or Government.

The Garda Commissioner is in charge of policing operations in the State and the Minister is politically responsible for policing. Last year, the whole Government, on the Minister's advice, extended the Commissioner's term of appointment to 2025. Under the Government members' combined watch, Garda numbers in Dublin have fallen. There are 200 gardaí fewer now on the streets than in 2020. Law and order are being eroded across the capital city's streets and our country.

There is a triple crisis within the Garda of morale, recruitment and retention, and I spoke about it yesterday. An overwhelming majority of rank-and-file gardaí have no confidence in their leadership, and more and more gardaí are simply leaving the force. A record 114 gardaí resigned up to the end of September and there were 851 voluntary retirements in the past three years, implying a force that is being hollowed out. The Minister needs to address morale issues and make training more attractive. Our communities need more gardaí on the streets, with a functioning leadership and real political accountability.

Will the Minister tell us whether Commissioner Harris asked for clarity on the use of force or was it her idea? What are she and the Commissioner doing to stop gardaí from resigning? At any point since Thursday, has the Commissioner offered to resign after what was a complete breakdown of law and order on the streets of Dublin?

I thank the Deputy for her contribution. I fully agree in that I do not believe this is the time for grandstanding and waving pictures. Again, I suggest to the Opposition that it think about what exactly it is trying to achieve here.

To respond to the Deputy's question about our capital city, there is much talk about the capital belonging to no one individual. It belongs to us all. There is not one of us who was not devastated by what happened last Thursday, by what happened the children and their families, and by the scenes we saw on O'Connell Street. However, I have been listening. I have been listening to members of the community in Dublin city centre and beyond. I have been listening to businesses and colleagues, and to women who told me some of them do not feel safe in our city centre, not just in the past four days or since the summer but since I became Minister. That is why we have had two stations opened in our city centre that were not open before I was Minister. That is why we have €10 million in additional funding for gardaí for our city centre. That is why a partnership has been established in our city centre, acknowledging that safety is not just about An Garda Síochána. That is why we have Operation Citizen, which was launched to ensure high-visibility policing. That is why the vast majority of members who have come out of the Garda College and the new recruits this year have gone to Dublin. That is why we are introducing body-worn cameras for gardaí and need facial recognition to ensure it will not take months to identify the thugs involved last Thursday. All the work I have been doing is being done because I have been listening to people's concerns. This work includes a zero-tolerance strategy, responding to concerns of women in our towns and cities and those who are vulnerable. It is to ensure people not only feel safe but also are safe in our city centre. I will do more. I am aware more needs to be done to support our shopkeepers, victims of theft and those who feel their staff are not safe. That is why I have been working closely with An Garda Síochána.

I have listened to and heard the concerns of business owners here in Dublin but also those in Cork, Limerick, Galway and my county, Meath, because the challenges we have in Dublin are replicated in other cities. I am absolutely committed, not just because of what happened on Thursday but because I, like every person in this House, want to ensure those who live in and visit our capital are and feel safe.

On working with the Garda Commissioner and the asks I have of the Policing Authority, I met Garda members as recently as the weekend. They say they feel they are looking over their shoulders regarding whether they can use appropriate force. When members of An Garda find themselves at risk when protecting themselves and others, I do not want them questioning their own judgment. This is not about questioning the training, An Garda Síochána or Templemore. This is about clarity for all our members so that when they find themselves in these difficult situations, they do not have to think twice. It is not about interfering in the work of anybody else. I do not want Garda members looking over their shoulders at any stage here.

With respect, the Minister did not answer my questions. Certainly, this issue did not start around last Thursday afternoon. We know about these issues in the Garda concerning morale, recruitment and retention that have been building for so long. There was a lack of gardaí on the ground, not just last Thursday night but also for some time before that. Gardaí had to rely on WhatsApp to call on colleagues to come into town last Thursday. We have seen issues such as policing in Dublin being run on overtime for some time and policing nationwide being run on a shoestring by gardaí who feel they do not have the legitimate and requisite supports. It is not good enough. I asked the Minister whether the Commissioner had offered to resign, and I ask her again.

We believe there must be accountability and adequate support for gardaí. When the barricades come down around Leinster House and the temporary measures in place for December have ended, what will be done to ensure adequate supports for gardaí? What measures will the Minister and Commissioner take on this? Are they going to increase the training pay for gardaí? It is simply unacceptable that trainees do not get the full starting salary. We call on the Minister to encourage more gardaí to join the force and provide the necessary support and the necessary reassurance to the public to ensure this issue will not arise again. What is the Minister doing to reassure us that our streets can be safe, not just in Dublin but also across the country?

The Garda Commissioner has my full support and the full support of the Government. What am I doing? I want more gardaí. We all want more gardaí. I fully appreciate overtime is not the solution. I have increased the training allowance already by two thirds in the budget just gone. I have made sure that, when recruitment opens in January, those over 35 will be able to join. I am working with the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, to make sure Garda members due to retire soon, when they reach 60, can stay on for longer. I have worked closely with An Garda Síochána to ensure the process for getting recruits into Templemore is as fast and effective as possible. Since the first new recruits started last year, we have seen an increase in class sizes every three months. Five thousand people applied to become members of An Garda Síochána in the last recruitment campaign.

Because of that we will see between 700 and 800 new members this year. I have provided funding to ensure that we have enough money for between 800 and 1,000 next year. In response to the Deputy's figures relating to Dublin, in 2015 when the college opened again there were 3,491 members and there are now 3,742. We want more but I am doing everything in my power to make sure that we have as many gardaí on the streets as possible.

Did the Commissioner offer to resign?