Yesterday, families from all over Ireland stood outside the Dáil to campaign for a stronger Government response to drug-related intimidation. On the morning of that day, another family had their home petrol bombed on Clanbrassil Street, Dublin 8. In the past ten months, three children have been murdered through petrol bomb attacks on their home. Countless others have been targeted with violence and more are being coerced into engaging in criminality. This is endemic across Ireland. We need a national emergency response. The DRIVE programme referenced earlier by the Taoiseach was funded last year to the tune of €340,000. We need a response that meets the scale of what is becoming a crisis, where lives are being lost.

The Government has been relentless in taking on criminal gangs over many years. We have broken up many big criminal gangs here through very focused action by An Garda Síochána. What tends to happen is that new generations of criminals emerge and they manifest what they do differently. There is no question that this intimidation phenomenon by criminals is abhorrent and there can be no toleration of it. An Garda Síochána will focus very specifically on this and on those who are committing these murders and very violent attacks and we will bring them to justice.