I will address the recent nursing home fees scandal and the withdrawal of disability payments to 12,000 people. I have the experience, as a parent and carer, of the day-to-day struggle to accessing citizenship in this Republic. It is very difficult. We are an outlier in European terms. This country is one of the worst places in the EU in which to have a disability or to be elderly, frail or vulnerable. I do not stand back from using those words. I have had the experience of lifting my adult son in the morning and looking after his intimate care needs. These are very intimate moments. It is quality time. We are trying to get him dressed and out of the house - to think there are able-bodied and well-educated people in positions of power who would conspire to suppress his rights. People in this Chamber may have had the experience of a parent who seemed invincible to them as though they would live forever. They might find themselves in that situation - lifting their parent on to the bed and looking after their intimate care needs. These are acts of love. This is not about the passive denial of somebody's rights. This is not about incompetence. This is about the proactive and premeditated use of the assets of the State to suppress the rights of our most precious citizens and I do not regard that as a sound strategy. I regard it as reprehensible. It violates the very social contract that exists between us as elected representatives and the people who vote for us and erodes public confidence in these Houses.

I ask Members to support me in calling for a full debate so that we find out precisely what happened here. If it is the case that the State's assets were used and mobilised and the State set its face against its own people, there needs to be accountability. I support the statement by the leader of the Labour Party, Deputy Bacik, to the effect that this could be a watershed moment. We could get something positive from this in looking at the role of the Attorney General. Government by the people should be for the people. Society is measured by the way it treats its most vulnerable citizens and if that is our measure, it is reprehensible.

Senator Clonan is right. Society is measured by how it treats and values its most vulnerable. That is something none of us should ever forget. I am calling for a debate with the Minister for Justice on the motion passed unanimously in this House last week calling for a dedicated public transport Garda unit. My party campaigned on this issue in the last general election and included it in its manifesto. It did not make into the programme for Government but we have continued to work on this issue. Antisocial behaviour in any part of life is completely unacceptable. There is a particular focus on having gardaí deployed on public transport because as we are all trying to adjust and embrace climate action and reduce our private vehicle usage and encourage others to use or work in public transport, we need to ensure that it is not only reliable, efficient and affordable, it is safe. The results of our survey say that the vast majority of public transport workers and users who responded to it find it unsafe and would welcome the presence of gardaí on public transport. I would appreciate it if the Deputy Leader could arrange a debate in the House with the Minister for Justice on that issue.

Regarding the protests that are taking place around the country, I will not go into great detail because most of the points have already been made. It is incumbent on everybody, not just those in these Houses, to remember that to live free from fear of violence, intimidation and abuse is a basic human right. Each one of us needs to remember that. Let us not make excuses for attending protests that are designed to spread fear, intimidate and threaten violence. There is no excuse for it from anyone.