I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I again raise the issue of safety in Dublin, particularly in Dublin's inner city. As the Taoiseach will know, last Saturday, there was a very vicious attack in Thomas Street in the south inner city on tourists visiting the capital. It was shocking. It happened at 7.30 p.m, and it is not an isolated incident - far from it. I have raised this issue with the Taoiseach many times before.

In the north-west inner city, in Marmion Court, the community is very shaken today. Last night, a person carrying a knife and wearing a balaclava got access to the complex through a broken gate, which the locals have been looking to get fixed for a long time. Children were put in the way of danger. This person was making a getaway after using the weapon to rob a house in another part of the district.

The community in the north inner city simply does not feel safe. It is the same in the south. The Government has cut the number of community gardaí by 40% over ten years. That is a significant part of people feeling unsafe. When is the Taoiseach going to come into the real world with the rest of us, get a grip on this and address the issue of Garda resources across the State, but for the purposes of this question, in Dublin's inner city?

I thank Deputy McDonald. I am delighted to live in the real world and I am sure she lives there as well. The Garda Commissioner has put significant additional resources into high-visibility policing in Dublin's city centre and that will continue. Of course, when the Deputy makes comments such as "the Government has cut", she is suggesting that the Government decides the allocation of gardaí, which she knows not to be true.

Gardaí are working tirelessly to keep our city safe for residents and visitors alike. The overall Garda overtime budget for 2024 is a substantial increase on last year, and a very significant number of permanent, full-time gardaí have been assigned to Dublin. A total of 157 new recruits were attested on 28 June from Templemore Garda College. Of them, 102 were assigned to policing duties in Dublin. While the distribution of Garda members and resources is a matter for the Commissioner, he is clearly supplementing resources in Dublin at each and every opportunity. There is also the deployment of the Garda national public order unit, which remains increased, with a full unit being deployed Sunday to Friday, inclusive, and two other units available to be deployed on Saturdays as well. I am happy to send the Deputy further information.