Maurice Quinlivan
Limerick City · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“The Kilteragh estate in Dooradoyle, where hundreds of homes are also located, has no bus service. The nearest bus stop is located outside the Crescent Shopping Centre, which is 2 km away. Another area that is lacking a bus service is that which lies between St.”
“In recent years, there have been some improvements on the bus transport in Limerick city, with routes such as the 310 from Annacotty to the city centre being rolled out. These new routes and improvements have to be welcomed, but significant gaps remain in the provision of bus services across Limerick city.”
“We have already seen a four-year delay in the delivery of BusConnects, which has impacted the economic development and liveability of Limerick. When raising the issue of University Hospital Limerick on many occasions, I have spoken about the growing population of Limerick and the wider mid-west region.”
“We have faced major challenges in making the Limerick city centre a liveable and enjoyable place. Efforts have been made to improve the city and make it a more attractive place to visit and enjoy. We have had some great success with the promotion of King John's Castle as a music venue, Thomond Park and the annual Great Limerick Run.”
“As stated, good progress has been made regarding transport in the mid-west, but we still lag way behind other areas across the State. Last year, I published a report on bus infrastructure in areas on the north side of Limerick City.”
“What they have done with the route, with buses coming onto O’Callaghan Avenue from Kileely and then onto the High Road and Thomond at Johnseys shop, is very dangerous. The road has been narrowed so much that buses have to mount the footpaths on both sides. Somebody is going to get seriously injured unless something is done.”
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“The extension of the deadline from six to 18 months for child wards creates an unnecessary delay in young people being able to exercise their decision-making rights as others can do. A glaring failure of the Bill is that it does not address the non-compliance of the Act with the State's obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Act is not compliant due to its approach to the functional assessment of capacity, which leads to the denial of legal capacity. At the time of the passing of the Act, the Centre for Disability Law and Policy outlined the ways in which compliance with the convention could and should have been improved.”
“Ultimately, limited extensions in these undefined certain circumstances mean that wards and their committees may not have time to engage with those who can appropriately support decision-making options. What is further absent from the Bill is the right of wards to be afforded time, training and information to take up supported decision-making options. Wards should be afforded the opportunity to understand their rights, express their will and develop skills to engage with supported decision-making. The Bill provides no requirement to engage with wards during the proceedings; rather, they only need to be notified of discharge proceedings. Another concern is how this Bill may discriminate against minor wards.”
“It is concerning that there is a specification that only some wardships will be extended in certain circumstances. The criteria on activating extensions of the timeframe in specific cases are extremely vague and there is no requirement to fully engage with wards of court detailed in the Bill. The Bill allows for judges to determine when an extension to the deadline for wardship is required but lacks detail on what the exceptional circumstances to allow such an extension are. This is placing an extreme amount of power in the hands of these individual judges to extend the length of time somebody can be denied their decision-making rights. The Bill should have and could have been more definitive by allowing extensions in circumstances where it had not been possible to inform the ward of their rights in an appropriate and accessible manner.”
“The Centre for Disability Law and Policy in University of Galway noted the lack of meaningful engagement with those who will be most specifically impacted by these changes, namely, wards and their families. The Bill will not address the shortcomings in the current system. We need to hear from the Minister of State how these will be addressed. Furthermore, the extension provided in the Bill will need to be re-extended beyond the proposed 18-month timeframe and I fear we will be back here debating similar legislation. I am concerned that these changes are being made without adequate consideration of the wishes of those most impacted by them. The Bill seeks to provide legal certainty in wardship cases by enabling wardships to be extended.”
“It was not just Oireachtas Members who were denied the opportunity to engage on this important change. Disability rights advocates have been highly critical of the approach taken by the Government. For instance, Disabled Women Ireland, in its submission on the draft heads, noted it was offered a single 30-minute session with the Minister of State on 28 January, which its representatives attended without being provided advance information on the heads of the Bill. This was circulated to them days afterwards, when their opportunity to query the Bill with the Minister of State had passed. Disabled Women Ireland was not the only interested party to note the lack of engagement.”
“I do not believe this Bill will address the issues that has led to the court backlog. The root causes have not been addressed. These include the lack of support available to people in the process and a failure to have the Act properly explained to them in language understandable to everyone. Rights campaigners have told me there is a lack of appropriate accessible information and practical supports for the wards and their families. The legal profession may not have sufficient numbers with the skills and experience to support the discharge process, which is also a concern for me. The public bodies tasked with the implementation of the Act, such as the Legal Aid Board, the National Advocacy Service and the Decision Support Service remain both understaffed and under-resourced.”
“It is certain the statutory deadline of 26 April will not be met. We all agree on that. We have been left with a very messy way to approach legislation. It is very disappointing that we are only now debating these important changes, that we are doing it at the very last possible hour and that the Government is rushing these incomplete changes through without the benefit of pre-legislative scrutiny. We are doing so because the wards of court deadline will not be met. I too thank the Centre for Disability Law and Policy in University of Galway for the note it provided for us. It was very useful. I have been at a number of briefings and spoken to a lot of stakeholders on the issue. It is complex but very resolvable. By the end of January, only 323 wards of court had discharged from wardship, with 78% of the 1,472 cases still pending.”
“It is time the Government provided proper funding, turned vacant local authority houses into homes, improved the tenant in situ scheme and restored the funding that was there for it, restored funding to homeless prevention schemes and increased the amount of emergency accommodation available in Limerick. In a society like ours, which is supposedly one of the richest countries in the world, people living - and, unfortunately, in many cases dying - on our streets is simply not acceptable.”
“These are failures of this Government and its most recent predecessors. What has happened? Why is there such a failure? A lack of support for local councils for refurbishment of voids is one element. In Limerick, there are always 200 vacant local authority homes not in use as there is only €11,000 in funding, a tiny amount, available from central government to refurbish vacant homes. Everybody knows that is simply not enough. In Limerick, the number one issue raised with me is the need for housing. There are approximately 2,000 people on Limerick's housing list and these figures are growing. People are waiting years without any prospect of getting a home. Increasing numbers of notices to quit has left many people desperate with nowhere to go.”
“In January 2016, when I came into the Dáil, a month later, 5,715 were availing of emergency accommodation across the State. Fast-forward to December 2025, that figure is almost 17,000. As I regularly do, I spoke to people in Limerick this week who work in emergency services. They advised me that there is no sign of the crisis abating and everything is getting worse. They said the number of people sleeping rough has increased due to the lack of emergency accommodation in the city, with people being turned away from emergency accommodation every single night. Staff working in the University Hospital Limerick have told me there are approximately 12 or more people staying in the accident and emergency department every single night to keep out of the cold. It is so common there that they are classified as P5 patients.”
“We have more than 5,000 children in emergency accommodation, a figure that is both shocking and shames the State. Yesterday, the Government rightly apologised to institutional abuse survivors. It was a hard-fought for and very much delayed apology. As I have said previously here, I have absolutely no doubt that a future government will be issuing an apology for the damage homelessness has done and is doing to children during this decade. The Government has not only utterly failed to address the issue of homelessness in this State, its actions has contributed to a homeless crisis that is directly impacting the lives of thousands of our citizens. Focus Ireland's homeless figures give an insight into the failure of successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael Governments.”
“As my colleague, Deputy McGettigan said, there was not just sorrow and stress but hope in how kids thrive when they get the proper supports they need. The Minister needs to say sorry to people.”
“Any TD or constituency office will tell her they never have a clinic without somebody coming to them with an issue around additional or special needs, children's school places, supports, SNAs, lack of SNAs, lack of school places, or projects being promised that have not been delivered. It goes on and on. There is never a clinic any of us go to where this issue does not come up. It is a huge issue. I again thank the people who said they were not going to tolerate this and that it would not happen. Some of them are in the Gallery; fair play to them for coming tonight. There were 1,100 or 1,200 people at the Zoom meeting that was on last night. It was very powerful, as some of my colleagues said. They told their stories about their children.”
“I wondered what the Minister would say when she came to the Chamber tonight. I was thinking about this all day. From what she said, I do not believe she has understood the stress, hurt and concern she has caused for families, schools and SNAs. The capitulation of the Government last night, while welcome, comes on the back of a campaign that was organised by SNAs, schools and parents. They should not have to do that. One word was missing from the Minister's speech and that was "sorry". She did not say that. There should be an apology for the mess she caused in the last few weeks and the stress she caused for people who are dealing with some of the most vulnerable cases.”
“I know that has been rejected by the Government, but that is what they are telling us, and I believe them now. There is a need for an energy payment or a disability payment. Will the Tánaiste, even at this late stage, consider doing that? Then they will not have to go on the streets.”
“Disabled people have been protesting outside the Dáil on a number of occasions in recent weeks. They are having a national protest on 28 February. The Tánaiste said earlier in reply to somebody else that they do not need to be on the streets. They genuinely do feel they need to be on the streets. We are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. Disabled people tell us they feel their income is €1,400 less this year than last year due to the budget, which has been devastating not only for people with disabilities but for many other workers as well. We have record numbers of people in energy arrears. A total of 303,465 households was the last figure I saw and many of those are people with disabilities. People with disabilities have been telling us that they are choosing whether to heat the house or to buy food.”
“It is time to put this right. Before we conclude, I want to note two things. If anyone watching tonight has been a victim of sexual violence, I urge them to speak to somebody about their experience. Organisations such as Rape Crisis Ireland have your best interests at heart. When they are ready to report the crime, they should think of An Garda Síochána or other authorities. When I spoke to survivors, I heard about the incredible support and compassion that was shown to them by trained members of An Garda Síochána. They are professionals, often in the divisional protective service unit, and will work closely to support victims. I commend those gardaí for their work. It must be emotionally challenging for them, and I hope they receive all of the necessary supports as they deal with difficult and horrible situations.”
“A sexual assault trauma unit could and should be established there. It would offer more privacy and, as the Minister of State knows, is literally around the corner from Rape Crisis Ireland's mid-west premises. After such trauma, people are not always yet ready to engage with the criminal justice system. Having access to a sexual assault trauma unit may allow more survivors to take the brave step of reporting their attacker to the Garda and allow those survivors the space to prepare for the often-arduous criminal justice journey. We need to support those navigating the criminal justice system after having been sexually assaulted. Forcing somebody who has survived a sexual assault to wait for an available room after the assault is no way that a survivor of domestic violence or any other sexual assault should be treated.”
“I thank the Minister of State for his response. He knows the situation in UHL well. Those who arrive for the forensic medical examination that he mentioned are accompanied by a member of An Garda Síochána. Before they are even treated, people will know they are with the gardaí in the hospital. There is no privacy whatsoever and that has to change. The stark reality is that the service people in Limerick, Clare and Tipperary receive is less than that available to people living near other large cities. We need to ensure that all those who perpetrate such disgusting, violent and debased crimes face the full force of the law. Giving people the option to make a report at a later date can be a crucial part of this objective. A new €16 million surgical hub is being developed at the former Scoil Carmel site on O'Connell Avenue in Limerick.”
“Appreciating Limerick's central location within the mid-west region, and that it is a university city with three major campuses and just under 13,000 third-level students, it strikes me as appalling that no sexual assault trauma unit is stationed there for use by the wider mid-west. There are currently six sexual assault trauma units in the State. They are in Cork, Donegal, Galway, Mullingar, Waterford and Dublin. There is an urgent need for more and one should be located in Limerick.”
“You only get the use of a kit for evidence-gathering purposes. This is a fundamental difference in how survivors of sexual assaults are treated. A sexual assault trauma unit is patient-centred and fundamentally focused on the well-being of the patient. It is a more care-based service that provides necessary medication, health assessments and a forensic examination. People can access care without involving An Garda Síochána as sometimes they may not yet be ready to do. If you have access to a sexual assault trauma unit, you have a dedicated phoneline to call and it is open 24 hours, 365 days a year. If you are raped or sexually assaulted in Limerick, you can dial 999.”
“What happens if a person cannot drive or is still processing the attack and not ready to share their experience with loved ones or a friend? Should they get the bus to Galway or sit in the clothes they were wearing until 7 p.m.? Unfortunately, for a lot of reasons sexual crime is under reported to An Garda Síochána. Due to the trauma of the attack people sometimes delay reporting such an incident to An Garda Síochána. The lack of a sexual assault trauma unit removes the opportunity for forensically collected evidence to be stored for up to a year, giving the survivor the ability to proceed with making a criminal complaint later, while simultaneously having access to medical assessment and medications. However, if you only to present to a forensic medical examiner you do not receive support services.”
“There is no forensic medical examination available prior to 7 p.m. When a rape or sexual assault occurs in order to protect the integrity of the forensic evidence, the person against whom the crime was committed is advised not to change their clothes, shower, brush their teeth or go to the bathroom. To have suffered such an attack and have to remain as they are for hours afterwards, unable to shower or even brush their teeth seems to me to be a further layer of trauma that could be avoided if a sexual assault trauma unit was available nearby. If such a heinous crime occurs in Limerick during the morning hours, the assaulted person has limited options. They can wait until the evening to visit the forensic medical examination service or seek transfer to the nearest sexual assault trauma unit in Galway.”
“I hope in a follow-up with the Minister for Health she can liaise with it to help it reduce its waiting list. It must be difficult for those who have suffered such terrible attacks to have that trauma compounded by an absence of counselling support. What is of utmost concern to me is the absence of sexual assault trauma units in the midwest region. More concerning again is the response I received from the HSE to a parliamentary question last week when I queried this. It advised me that there are currently no plans to establish a sexual assault trauma unit, SATU, in Limerick. I appreciate that there is availability of forensic medical examination in University Hospital Limerick. However, this service is only available in the evening time when somebody presents at the hospital.”
“In January this year, Ireland South MEP Kathleen Funchion and I met the midwest rape crisis centre in Limerick city. We all know the vital work these centres play in supporting those who have been subjected to gender, domestic and sexual violence. Their focus is on the survivor and what is best for them. Their supports range from therapy and counselling to support for court appearances. In some cases, the volunteers are simply a sounding board and confidant with whom survivors can share their stories. Meeting the executive director was a useful reminder for me of the important role these centres play. One of the concerns raised with me was that the rape crisis centre midwest has 80 people on its waiting list for counselling support.”
“Today, we present the Government with a choice: ban the bulk purchasing of homes and help those struggling with a near 50% increase in the cost of living or do not ban bulk purchasing. That is the choice the Government can make. If history is anything to go by, I regret to say that once more, the Government will choose developers and corporate landlords over the needs of average citizens.”
“Prior to last year's election, the Government misled voters about the number of housing completions that took place in 2024. It seems each choice it makes results in it being harder and harder for people to avail of much-needed housing. In June 2024, the Tánaiste stated that the bulk purchasing of homes cannot be tolerated, yet in 2025, 293 homes were bulk-purchased to the value of €88 million. Since 2020, property prices have risen by almost 50%. The housing crisis continues unabated, yet the corporate landlords, investors and developers are making even greater profits. It seems the only actions the Government has taken to combat the bulk purchase of homes was the May 2021 decision to introduce a 10% stamp duty on more than ten homes bought in a 12-month period. We warned this step would not work and it has not worked.”
“In Limerick, the average price of a semi-detached three-bedroom home has reached more than €345,000. That is a €25,000 increase compared with the end of 2024. Over 16,000 people across the State are availing of emergency accommodation. At the same time, the Minister has cut the tenant in situ funding. He has also failed to increase funding to tackle voids, leaving more than 200 council home properties always vacant in Limerick in the middle of a housing emergency. Last week, to top it off, the Minister pushed through a Bill that will increase yearly rents by €5,000 for up to 60,000 renters. It is a legacy of failure, missteps and an inability or unwillingness to address any aspect of the housing crisis or treat it as the emergency it is.”
“I want the Tánaiste to confirm today whether the Government is going to implement option A, B or C, meaning delivering extra capacity at UHL, delivering additional capacity adjacent to UHL and delivering a second hospital with an emergency department in the mid-west region. That is what the people of the mid-west and Limerick need and deserve.”
“The Tánaiste stated earlier that he comes in here every day to do work. The Tánaiste has been in here 5,454 days, and for many of those he was Minister for Health. My local hospital, University Hospital Limerick, is in perpetual crisis. There were 131 people on trolleys in the hospital yesterday. If we had not opened the new bed unit in October last, we would probably have more than 200 people on trolleys. The figures for this year so far have been the exact same as last year's figures, so there has been no impact on the people presenting. February is probably going to be the worst February ever. The Tánaiste will be well aware that in September 2025, HIQA released a report which set out three options, A, B and C. The Tánaiste will know what the options are.”
“While a significant gap remains between the number of reports to hotline.ie and the number of prosecutions, criminalisation of non-consensual recording or distribution of intimate images was and remains necessary. However, there is a lack of clarity as to whether the legislation covers the generation or creation of intimate images through AI. Our Bill seeks to provide clarity on that. We have an obligation to prevent another generation of women and girls from experiencing misogyny and gender-based violence. While this amendment to Coco's Law will not solve all these ills, it will go some way towards protecting people from the frankly disgusting abuse of AI tools and their use in creating unwanted and unauthorised sexual images.”
“I was 27 years old before I heard a member of my party being allowed to speak on national TV or radio. When we in Sinn Féin talk about these issues, we know the impact of restricting free speech and we oppose it. However, we will not allow the exploitation, bullying and the crass sexual objectification of people who provided no permission for either users or big tech companies to use their images in such a brutal way. Five years ago this month, Coco's Law entered into force. It was and is a good and necessary piece of legislation in the ongoing battle against the distribution and publication of intimate images without consent. Within its first two years, there were 100 prosecutions under the law.”
“Those who are opposed to regulatory restrictions on the creation and generation of sexualised AI images argue that this an affront to free speech and freedom of expression. It is not. It is not a freedom to use without consent someone's image to generate sexualised images. It is not freedom to ask an AI tool to show a picture of somebody and to have the picture modified to remove the clothing from the image of their body. That is sexual. That is harassment. Often those who cry about free speech were not so loud or mostly were extremely quiet when it came to section 31 of the Broadcasting Act banning members of my party from the airwaves. One party member was not allowed to talk about mushrooms on a farming programme. Larry O'Toole could not speak on behalf of striking workers.”
“While the Minister of State looks at dealing with scramblers, this tragic death must compel the Government to ensure that these scramblers are taken off public roads and spaces for good, and that it also seizes this opportunity to address the safety issues concerning horses in urban areas and that e-scooters being driven illegally and not complying with road regulations are seized as well.”
“Sinn Féin brought forward Bills in 2015, 2017 and 2021 that aimed to give An Garda Síochána more powers to stop individuals from using scramblers, but these Bills were blocked by the Government. In 2019, while debating legislation on scramblers, I said that I did not believe the legislation would address the issue, that it was a significant issue in Limerick and other places, and that these bikes were a "danger to children and result in intimidation for many residents [who] cannot live safely in their own homes." However, in Limerick, as Deputy Pa Daly pointed out in October 2023, when An Garda Síochána seized 44 scramblers and other off-road vehicles and five people were arrested over two days, the superintendent said, "We are acutely aware of the problem ourselves and can correlate the use of scramblers and e-scooters to criminal activities with [several] detections in the sale and supply of drugs in recent months." My time is short.”
“He said he was satisfied with the existing legislation dealing with the misuse of scramblers. In an answer provided to me on 15 January 2026, the Minister of State stated, "Both I and my Department are satisfied with the current regulations in place." I would like to know what has changed since then. This is not a new issue. The scourge of scrambler bikes have plagued residents of working class estates for years. My party has been consistently looking for the Government to act. I have spoken here many times over the past decade on the danger of these vehicles. Tragically, the focus on this matter has come too late for Grace and her family. My colleague sitting next to me, Deputy Dessie Ellis, had previously introduced a Bill in 2012.”
“As we talk about road safety, we do so with the backdrop of the tragic, avoidable death of teenager Grace Lynch in Finglas on Sunday, 25 January. She was a teenager who left her house and was struck by a scrambler on her home estate - a young life snatched away in its prime. I extend my deepest sympathies to her family and friends during this most difficult time for them. I welcome news that new laws are being introduced to implement the total ban on scramblers in public spaces and to strengthen existing laws for gardaí. However, more could and should have been done, and done sooner. I firmly believe that if scramblers were being used in more affluent areas across the State, a swift and robust response would have followed, but working class communities, as usual, were abandoned. I recently asked the Minister a parliamentary question.”
“It goes against the recommendations of the Oireachtas justice committee and hands over power on migration to the European Union, thereby ignoring the unique challenges we face in this State, including the Border and the common travel area with Britain, which is a non-EU entity. While we have the right to opt in to and out of legislation governing the areas of freedom, security and justice on a case-by-case basis the Government is instead opting to plough straight into the adoption of all aspects of the pact. This erosion of our sovereignty does not serve the people of Ireland. The implementation of this Bill will hinder our ability as a State to make decisions on the issue of migration. The people should decide ourselves how to do this, not the EU.”
“However, there is no doubt our international processing and enforcement needs reform. The delays in processing applications and appeals do not serve the State or the applicants well. We need a system that is fit for purpose. Those who are entitled to be here should be processed quickly so they can begin their new life and integrate into the local community. Equally, those who enter the country and are deemed to not be entitled to stay must be processed quickly. The Bill is designed to sign up to the EU migration and asylum pact in its totality but this is not in our interest.”
“The Irish, across the centuries, have been forced to emigrate. We know the pain of having to say goodbye to loved ones at bus stations, airports and ports. In the summer of 1988 and having graduated from third level, I, like thousands of others, boarded a plane at Shannon Airport with a tourist visa and headed to New York city. I worked there for 18 months and returned to Ireland. Unfortunately, due the policies of the Government of the time unemployment was rampant. As I was unable to access employment in Ireland I secured a job in London, where I spent nine years. I was fortunate to be able to come home. I am sure there are many more Irish people across the world who would love to return but see the housing crisis and ever-rising cost of living as barriers. We must do more to encourage and help them to return.”
“When I was on Limerick City Council, a bus lane was delivered, yet there is no bus service. You would struggle to find nonsense like this anywhere else in the world where you have a road with a bus lane but no bus. In past number of years, hundreds of houses have been built in the area, many of them social and affordable houses, but there is no bus stop. A simple solution would to be reroute an existing bus service to service the road instead of having to wait for BusConnects which could be years. We now have many people there in hundreds of home without cars and no accessible public transport. This needs to be sorted.”
“It would also address the issues at the Mackey roundabout, which is a crucial connection point for those looking to access the M7 and for those coming off the M7 and going to work in the University of Limerick and adjacent industrial estates. On weekday mornings and evenings, it is gridlocked with motorists who, in frustration, sometimes take risks and put their lives in danger as they look to exit the roundabout. You can see cars backed up trying to exit the M7 at the Mackey Roundabout and in other areas in Ballysimon as well. The northern distributor road would address most of these issues. On bus infrastructure, the Condell road in Limerick is a road that was built in Limerick city. It is a fine piece of road and has had a bus lane for a huge number of years.”
“Functioning infrastructure is crucial to economic development and to a better quality of life. The plan notes that the transport infrastructure deficit gives rise to hours lost to congestion. Nowhere is this more evident than at the Mackey roundabout on the outskirts of Limerick. The northern distributor road is therefore crucial to the development of Limerick city. The construction of the northern distributor road would remove vast amounts of traffic from the city and would provide a link from the residential areas on the northside of the city to the University of Limerick and its surrounding industrial estates.”
“The Government’s infrastructure plan is devoid of action with no new ambition but rather it slightly alters existing systems and has little in the way of new ideas. The State has crumbling infrastructure, a housing crisis compounded by the failures of successive housing Ministers and a planning system that is not fit for purpose. In the mid-west, many infrastructure projects have been glacially slow to deliver. In Limerick, we have the Coonagh-Knockalisheen road. It took over many years before work commenced on this project. The Minister of the day was determined to stop this road and without the intervention of the people of Moyross and others, it would not have been constructed. Once finally constructed and completed, it will serve as an important artery that will unlock economic, employment and educational opportunities in the area.”
“These are areas with good people and are communities which utterly despise the organised crime gangs and their criminality. They just want to get on with and live their lives. The tentacles of criminality spread to all the communities, from urban to rural and urban centres to suburban towns. As I said earlier, our gardaí do a difficult job and crucial work every day as they serve and protect communities, and they have my full support in doing that. We have seen from previous operations, such as Operation Copóg, that when the resources and funding are put into Limerick and when the resources are put in to the Garda and it is supported properly, they work well in combating the type of organised activity I have been talking about and, more important, the force has the support of the community.”
“I have been asked by the community to specifically ask the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, to visit the area and to talk to the local chief superintendent and community leaders. We are seriously concerned about what is going on in the area and I do not think anybody is grasping the severity of what we are worried about. The Garda knows exactly who is involved and who is gaining from this misery. I appreciate that the gathering of information and investigations need to be thorough, but the community must see a robust response. Without one, I fear we are seeing escalation and a deep frustration within the community and, unfortunately, we might see the loss of life. We in Limerick have had some challenges with criminality in a small minority of areas that can be fixed.”
“They do so due to the threat of petrol bombs or worse being fired or lobbed at their homes. This is no way for anybody to live. I have also been contacted confidentially by several local parents who are not letting their children go to school because they are worried they may be injured, beaten up or whatever on the way to school. The violence, drug dealing and organised crime is not exclusive to this part of the city but we are seeing a pattern in Limerick. It is a pattern that sees gardaí intensifying their efforts in one area, leading to re-emerging criminal elements in other parts of the city. For instance, when we focus on Ballinacurra, Weston, People's Park, St. Mary's Park and Garryowen, they will have zero Garda presence.”
“I spoke on the CAST teams earlier. I have also been in contact with stakeholders in the community and I assure the Minister of State the concerns I raised with him today are echoed by most people in the community. Frustrations are building and many feel the Garda response has not been adequate enough against these criminals. Having said that, I believe the gardaí in Limerick are doing the job in some of the most challenging of circumstances, and more supports and resources are needed for them. I recently spoke at length to people with first-hand and direct knowledge of this feud. They are good people who have given so much good to the community. They noted families are sleeping in shifts, whereby some sleep while others guard the front door and monitor CCTV cameras.”
“The Minister should be aware that criminal feuding in parts of Limerick in recent weeks has seen an escalation in violence. In recent weeks, this violence has escalated in dramatic proportions, particularly in Ballinacurra Weston and surrounding areas. For fear of criminal retaliation, much of this violence has gone unreported. However, among the most recent incidents, there have been gun and arson attacks on homes and cars, assaults on people in the area and threats of violence against and intimidation of others. I am extremely concerned for the residents of the area. Many will recall the violent criminality that plagued Limerick in the early 2000s. Without robust intervention, I fear we are not far from returning to those very dark days.”
“In the Minister of State’s speech, she said early results are extremely positive and that the pilot will inform the national rollout. It is a no-brainer; it works and it should be rolled out where appropriate across the State. We think about how such a simple project is working so well, saving lives and keeping people out of prison and emergency departments.”