I welcome Margaret Loftus from Mayo who is here with Deputy Mary Lou McDonald.

Ní féidir deireadh a chur leis an tseirbhís monatóireachta CCTV i Luimneach. Is cosaint thábhachtach í don phobal agus caithfidh an Rialtas leanúint ar aghaidh ag cur an maoiniú buan atá ag teastáil ar fáil chun an tseirbhís ríthábhachtach seo a choimeád ar oscailt.

The country is still reeling from the horrific murders of four members of the English family, including two precious young children, in a petrol bomb attack on their home last month. This catastrophic and barbaric incident in Waterford put focus on the devastating consequences of violent organised crime and the escalating scourge of drug debt intimidation. In the early hours of yesterday morning, five adults and two children were rushed to hospital following yet another arson attack on a family home, this time here in Dublin. Families are held to ransom by drug gangs through threats, extortion and violence. They live every day with a sense of fear in communities across Ireland. There is anger that Government is not responding with force or purpose to keep communities safe.

Limerick has suffered the torment, violence and consequences of organised drug crime and drug debt intimidation. The community spent decades working to overcome this scourge. Limerick understands how investing in community safety can really turn the tide, yet as communities look to Government for greater support and protection, it provides the exact opposite. It removes funding for one of Limerick's most important and most successful community protection services. The Limerick CCTV monitoring service was established in response to the violence that plagued communities. It monitors hundreds of cameras across the city and county. It is a vital resource for An Garda Síochána and for the community. It prevents crime and allows for incidents to be responded to. It is a proven and highly successful initiative that has taken years of work to develop. It is at the very core of Limerick's safety infrastructure.

The service faces a funding shortfall of approximately €660,000 for 2027. The Department of local government is cutting the funding it has provided for years. The Department of justice refuses to take on funding responsibility. As things stand, just two days before Christmas, the doors will shut, hundreds of cameras will shut down and this vital crime prevention service will be lost to the people of Limerick. The Taoiseach should make no mistake; the big winner here will be the organised crime gangs that are seeking any opportunity to reassert themselves.

Stripping the people of Limerick of this vital community safety service is a dangerous and disgraceful dereliction of the Government's duty. The Government has funded Limerick's CCTV monitoring service for decades. It must continue to fund it. There can be no excuses. We need a crystal clear commitment from the Taoiseach today. Does he accept that the closure of Limerick's CCTV service would be devastating? Does he accept that it cannot happen? Does he accept that the Government has a responsibility to provide the funding to keep it open? Will he now intervene directly and guarantee the €660,000 required to keep this service operational for 2027? Furthermore, will he commit to establishing a permanent multi-annual funding arrangement for this community's safety?

Tá gach iarracht á déanamh ag an Rialtas maidir leis an méid dúnmharaithe agus foréigin atá ar siúl ar fud na tíre ag daoine áirithe. Tá níos mó áiseanna agus airgid curtha ar fáil arís i mbliana don Roinn dlí agus cirt agus do na Ranna eile chun pobal na tíre a choimeád slán. Níl aon amhras ach go bhfuil brú ar dhaoine agus go bhfuil deacrachtaí agus dúshláin faoi leith ann.

People are extremely angry, frustrated and shocked at the level of recklessness with which some criminals, particularly those involved in the area of drugs, behave in murdering, injuring and intimidating people and in endeavouring to undermine cohesion within communities. The Government is very clear that there will be no tolerance of that kind of behaviour. As the Deputy will know, An Garda Síochána implements a national anti-drugs strategy through Operation Tara. The focus of that operation is to disrupt, dismantle and prosecute drug trafficking networks at the local, national and international levels. The Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau leads in tackling all forms of drug trafficking and the supply of illicit drugs in Ireland. The consumption of drugs is a societal issue. It is far more widespread than it should be. There is an onus on all those who take drugs to realise that there is a very sordid, murderous and violent background to the provision and supply of drugs in our society.

We have initiatives such as Operation Fógra, the drug-related intimidation reporting programme, and the Drug Related Intimidation and Violence engagement, DRIVE, programme, which is a national inter-agency initiative funded by the Departments of Health and justice. An Garda Síochána and the Minister for justice are extremely focused on dealing with the levels of intimidation that certain drug criminals are engaging in. The DRIVE programme brings together law enforcement, health services, social services and community organisations to address drug-related intimidation through a co-ordinated and victim-centred approach. Since its launch, more than 800 individuals have received training across 24 drug and alcohol task force areas.

The Deputy raised the issue of the CCTV system in Limerick. She indicated that it has been in operation for quite a number of years now.

It is decades.

Exactly. At national level, there has been no pulling back from funding CCTV-----

There has.

There has.

You are closing it.

I can look at the specifics of the case but, on the €660,000, in my view, it is within the remit of the local authority and others to ensure that does not happen by Christmas. Funding to Government Departments, local authorities and across the board has now increased. CCTV systems have been in place for a long time and are included in the base funding allocations. There should not be an issue in respect of it.

Last year, the local authority bailed this service out but the reality is that for all of the rhetoric, words, tea and sympathy that the Taoiseach will offer to communities in Waterford, Limerick and elsewhere, he is not serious about resourcing communities and community safety. It is beyond shocking and scandalous that the Limerick CCTV service, which has been so successful and has kept communities that have really suffered safe for so long, will be shut down for the sum of €660,000, yet that is what the community is facing two days before Christmas. Will the Taoiseach make it clear that he is intervening in this and that he will speak to the Departments, exercise his authority and make sure that Limerick, the community and people are not left at the hands of violence and intimidation-----

The Taoiseach will respond.

-----because the Government could not come up with €660,000?

Hear, hear.

The Government is supporting community safety very strongly. The community safety fund, for example, plays a key role in helping communities become more resilient to crime, and an allocation of €4.84 million was recently distributed through the community safety fund to 56 community safety projects nationwide.

Invariably, on a whole range of issues, local authorities will make the case for additional funding and invariably it will come to the floor of this House, and I will be asked to intervene in every local authority area and on every issue. I will get the backdrop to this, but let us be very clear too that €660,000 is a very realisable sum of sum of money-----

Of course it is. That is the point.

-----and there is no need for anything to close by Christmas.

Is the Taoiseach committing to it not closing?