I support Deputy Mark Ward's amendment. He has already spoken about the legislation we proposed earlier. It is about ensuring that, for those communities that pay the greatest price for organised crime and all the chaos that comes with it, there is some sort of payback. We know none of that is going to be enough. What is needed is something far more comprehensive. I have spoken to the Minister about this. We constantly talk about early interventions, whole-of-government responses and interagency work. We really need to bring those about. We know those areas that are most disadvantaged. It is very simple to get the information from the Pobal index. All of this information is freely to hand in respect of those who suffer from the greatest levels of poverty and disadvantage. We have all known for a considerable time that they are the areas that suffer from what has been a scourge, particularly in relation to drugs and drug gangs. We have all seen the bad examples in estates that have remained for far too long. Like many others, I have said it is not just about a policing solution. I get that does not work. There is a need for it but we have seen the war on drugs fail in America and here. We need something better holistically. We have to look after those who are suffering under addiction. We have insufficient addiction services and do not have the supports that are necessary when we want to bring people away from that life. There has been a failure to have a conversation not only about how we deal with organised crime and the deprivation that feeds it, but also the chaos that has been caused and how we give supports to families and communities. Beyond that, we must build a better society and a community that facilitate everyone. We can literally make this a better place. I was in the drugs committee lately. The experts know what to do and have always known the supports and projects that work and the pilots that failed to be expanded, but we have not done that. A massive increase in those elements of support could see us needing a lot less down the road. I think that is it. This is almost the single transferable speech that everybody has. At the children's committee, the drugs committee and even the disability committee to some degree, it is all about early intervention and putting in those supports. At the children's committee recently, we had the area-based childhood, ABC, programme, Archways, The House in Cox's Demesne from my own constituency, Northside Partnership and even the ISPCC. They all spoke about the number of referrals seeking supports that were coming directly from Tusla. We had Ms Kate Duggan from Tusla before the committee on a different occasion. We all know there are issues around child protection. There are many issues we want to see resolved as well as a framework for protecting the most vulnerable. We also know that, given the need that is out there, the bodies in question and the community voluntary sector they deal with do not have the resources to address this. It involves interagency work. That is all that Tusla, the local authorities and the Garda will talk about. I will welcome it on some level when the community safety partnerships are eventually up and running. I am not sure they are the entire answer or that we have the suite of resources required. We need to be able to deal with the outright criminality and bad examples that kids see. We have to have a conversation about identifying what supports and early interventions are needed. We have seen it work with the likes of the Greentown Project. People who have worked in those sorts of project are aware that they are sometimes dealing with the fourth generation in families, so there is an element of failure. That is not to take away from the good work they have done or the harm reduction. How bad would it be if those projects did not exist? We have not got real about the issues. Included in that is drug debt intimidation, where the mother, father, granny or granddad gets the call and somebody has to cash in a pension, if they are lucky enough to have one, or go to the credit union. Once that tap is open, the drug dealer will be back to it again. We need to be able to shut these people down. The communities generally welcome it when they see action taken. I have welcomed the change of rules about being able to go after criminals for smaller amounts but it is not enough. We need to deal with that. We need to make sure the supports are there and that we do what we can for those who are being groomed by criminal gangs. The legislation we see in this House must be put out in the world and enforced in respect of those who bring young people into criminal gangs and force them to do things, bringing them into a world that only brings negativity. We must put in place whatever supports are necessary to prevent that. We have all seen youth diversion projects that do spectacular work. I have seen it in my own constituency. They have worked a hell of a lot better since the interventions have been happening at an earlier stage. We need to see more of that. That is a more comprehensive conversation. It is about us getting down to the issues in respect of criminality and supports. The local authorities, Tusla and the Garda will put their hands up and say they do not have the tools or powers to deal with the issues that exist at this point. What Deputy Ward has proposed is a means of ensuring we can take back what has been taken by criminals who have put their foot on the neck of our communities for far too long. We must put the money and resources back into those communities and provide resilience. We are talking about very good, very strong communities. It can be a lot better, and we would all benefit from that.

Sentiment score: 0.03