I support the calls for a debate on antisocial behaviour, but also on general disorder in public and the lawlessness we have seen. I have raised this issue in the House previously. Much of that antisocial behaviour and, in particular, that lawlessness is directed towards people who are not Irish. That is a particular aspect that we need to address. Yesterday, I had the privilege of meeting two Slovak-born men who were recognised by the Slovakian Government for their contribution to society. One of them, Joe Veselsky, a resident of Booterstown, is 103 years of age today. I congratulate him. He came to Ireland in 1949, having been part of the Czech resistance and lost members of his family in Auschwitz. Tomi Reichental was also recognised. He came to Ireland in 1959, having survived the Holocaust in Bergen-Belsen. It strikes me that many of the people we are talking about are the modern counterparts of these men. They are people who have come to Ireland and made their home here and who are contributing at every level of our society. I hope that, 60 years from now, we will be able to recognise the modern counterparts of these men who have come here from Brazil and other countries that are very far away and very different from Ireland, who have made their homes here and who have made themselves part of our communities and contributed to our society not only economically but culturally and in all the other aspects of a functioning society. They are doing that and there are people in Ireland who do not understand the value they bring to our society. As part of our consideration of lawlessness, public disorder, antisocial behaviour and all of the other aspects of behaviour in society, we must consider that these people are also part of our society. As a Legislature and, more importantly, as a community and a society, we must reach out to welcome them and to acknowledge the contribution they make.

I too support colleagues in calling for a debate on antisocial behaviour. Senator Ward articulated very well a modern problem in respect of antisocial behaviour. Certain people in our community are suffering and we need to address that. We also need to address what is going on in our streets not only in the city of Dublin, but also in other towns where wanton thuggery is taking place. We need to ensure that the streets of our towns and cities are safe for people to come and go. Ireland is a place of welcome. We hope to rebuild our tourism industry and to return to 10 million people visiting our country a year. When people do come, they need to be able to travel around our country and our towns and cities safely, whether by day or by night. That debate is necessary and, like others, I welcome the announcement of 800 extra gardaí in the budget. That will certainly help increase the complement of gardaí to a figure in excess of 15,000. That is where we want it. We never want to go under 15,000 gardaí again. There has also been significant investment in ICT, equipment and vehicles for An Garda Síochána but the simple reality is that there are parts of the city of Dublin and our towns around the country that are no-go areas and that has to be ended.