Paul McAuliffe
Dublin North-West · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“In the context of the previous Government, some of our Green Party colleagues were also supportive of this for a range of other reasons relating to delivering the circular economy. From what I hear, one outcome of the review could be the creation of a franchised service.”
“It would allow it to say that in the context of my area of Finglas, it is not appropriate that because an area is more affluent, people living in that road have access to five bin companies and because somewhere else is less affluent, it is stuck with one bin company.”
“I made a commitment to Deputies Gannon and Sherlock in 2019 in an agreement we signed together to pursue the issue of remunicipalisation. It was the right thing to do then and it is the right thing to do now. It is not an accident that there are many Dublin-based Deputies in the House for this debate.”
“If Dublin City Council had been allowed address the housing crisis back in 2012, 2013 or 2014, when it was impacting the city far more than anywhere else, we would have been ahead of the curve.”
“-----to put in place waste solutions that suit their areas. If this means that there is a different solution in Dublin City Council's area than in the other local authority areas across the county, then that is how it should be. Unfortunately, that power rests with the chief executive.”
“To break that down a little, the issues Deputies Gannon and Sherlock are having in the city centre are vastly different from the ones that are relevant in my constituency. We do not have an issue with bags. Nor do we have the same street structures or networks.”
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“As we get to the end of this Bill, I commend all the Minister of State’s officials who have worked on this legislation, all the stakeholders who have engaged with the Minister of State and the Minister of State herself. She has engaged with many of us across the House, and particularly with some of her Government colleagues who had concerns in relation to the Bill. I wish to speak to this group of Seanad amendments because it deals with the issue of involuntary adult admissions. In many ways, depriving anybody of their liberty is an incredibly serious thing, so it should be difficult to secure an involuntary adult admission. Trying to find that line between it being difficult and too difficult has been the job the Minister of State has had to do.”
“The investment it made in youth centres and childcare was invaluable. We live with its legacy and I have no doubt we will live with the legacy of what the Minister is doing in decades to come.”
“Along with the national childcare scheme, the commitment to a public childcare model is also important. That is why building blocks phase 1 was important. I welcomed the fact the Minister came to our nursery in Ballymun and saw at first hand the work being done. On the balancing act between childcare workers, providers and parents, I am concerned that the €45 million that was set aside last year is still the subject of some negotiation. I would like to see, as quickly as possible, that money landing in the pockets of childcare workers because it is important we deliver for all three stakeholders. I reiterate how important the building blocks programme is. I should be putting my question to the Minister for public expenditure. However, I compare it to the equal opportunities childcare programme of the early 2000s.”
“On the issue, there is always a tension between the provider, the childcare worker and the parent and the needs of all three. While we have to balance that, I return to the point that we made a commitment and I hope we will do everything we can in the remaining years of the Government to deliver it.”
“My children are now 14 and 16 and while that makes me feel old, it is remarkable to see the investment we have made in childcare over the period. We paid nearly €1,500 per month with no subsidy of any sort from the Government. As the Minister said, the national childcare scheme supports families. However, we need to be careful. A commitment was made. I am saying this not only to the Minister, Deputy Foley, but also to the Department of public expenditure. It is a key commitment over the lifetime of the Government and each year we need to be working towards delivering it so that, at the end of the Government's term, we will have followed through on it. Many positive things will come out of delivering it. It is important.”
“There is an argument that it is used to prevent people from smoking tobacco. That is incredibly true and it has a role. In evidence we have seen that while cigarette usage has flatlined, the consumption of vaping products has increased. If these were solely an alternative or diversion from tobacco, we would see tobacco consumption decrease and vaping increase. That is not what we are seeing. We are seeing new people taking up these products. The Minister of State's measures here are a way to prevent young people being targeted by an industry that for decades has sought to sell them a product that is addictive. I commend her on the work that she is doing.”
“In a similar way to single use vape products, the colours and imagery as well as their often playful or jovial depictions are another way for the industry to lure and attract people in. I look forward on Committee Stage to further examining the approach the Minister of State has taken which is essentially to limit the descriptor. It would be quite difficult to quantify or describe the products or flavour. I imagine environmental health will have a significant role in terms of monitoring how the legislation is implemented. I note the Minister of State has limited it to two descriptors - those being tobacco flavour or unflavoured. I note the comments from other people regarding the word "menthol". In essence if the vape is not menthol and unflavoured, then it should not have a descriptor that is not correct.”
“We are preventing an industry from doing that. It can be uncomfortable using the language of "preventing an industry" because often I would be somebody who would support businesses, job creation and so on but we are dealing here with the sale of an addictive product. We know from studying addiction that addiction changes the reward systems in one's brain. While the first time one consumes an addictive product, it is a free chose. It is something that one considers. After that, each time the addiction and the patterns of addiction limits one's own personal choices. That is something that I am very strongly supportive of in terms of the issue of illegal drugs. It has its application here in the sale of nicotine products. I wish to speak to a number of issues.”
“Many parents with teenagers know too well the dangers of these products, particularly regarding their ease of access and how easily they can be consumed. Every generation has gone through some sort of targeting by tobacco and nicotine industry. I recognise that vaping is one element dealt in this Bill and that nicotine pouches and the related products follow very closely behind it. I commend the Minister of State on including them in the Bill. These products are currently advertised through mixed retail outlets. In effect, this has created another draw factor at the till in many local or small specialised shops. Essentially, what is happening is it is attracting people who would not smoke or consider tobacco. That is not an accident; it is by design. It is marketing. They are trying to increase their market share.”
“Vaping and nicotine pouches are the latest version of that attempt by the nicotine industry to target young people. I am entirely supportive of the measures in the Bill. I commend the Minister of State on her efforts to help curb the continued marketisation of tobacco and nicotine inhaling products, especially towards the younger cohort. This is a clear public health issue. It is one that my colleagues in Fianna Fáil have been consistent in addressing. My colleague mentioned the workplace and indoor smoking ban in 2004. There has been a consistent approach since then to tackle both the tobacco and nicotine industry. I welcome that this Bill will prohibit the sale of nicotine products, such as nicotine pouches. As my colleague said, it is something that I had not aware of until recently.”
“I am pleased to support the Bill, which will prohibit the sale of nicotine consumption products and the advertisement of nicotine inhaling products, particularly in retail outlets. It will deal with the point-of-sale display in mixed retail outlets. The colour and imagery of nicotine inhaling products will be restricted and the sale of the devices or the functioning of other products, such as toys and games, will be prohibited, as will all flavour descriptors and language other than the basic flavour names. The flavours in nicotine inhaling products will be limited to tobacco, or be unflavoured. I say all of that because, for many years, each different generation has been targeted by the nicotine industry, for want of a better word.”
“Two of my colleagues spoke about the European Single Market. While there have been benefits for industry from the Single Market, consumers in Ireland have not been able to get the full benefit in the areas of industry and financial products. Under our Presidency, what do we intend to do to progress that?”
“We have been strongly supportive of Ukraine and rightly so but what is happening in the Straits of Hormuz and the Middle East is having a direct impact and I want to see the European bloc now step up and be part of the global conversation about what happens and about trying to bring an end to a war that is having massive economic impact on all of us here in Ireland and elsewhere.”
“The carbon tax can be very controversial. For those who I would describe as being at the populist end of the spectrum, it is very easy to say that we should pay less tax but the reality is tax allows us as a country do certain things. Whether that is investing in the retrofitting programme or supporting farmers, the carbon tax funds that transition and we have to make that transition in the longer term. Europe needs to help us do that and I would like to see the European bloc do more. Two wars are ongoing.”
“When one speaks to many people who are experiencing those costs, one sees how much it impacts them but when one speaks to people who have made that change to an EV - and it is not always easy although it is much more possible now with second-hand cars - one can see that they are not feeling that same pain in terms of their transport costs. There is a lesson there, which is that when we help people transition, it has a direct impact in the short term and the long term. While the European Green Deal has in some ways fallen off at the agenda and there is a big focus on deregulation, and I do not necessarily think that deregulation or simplification as it is often called is necessarily a bad thing, we have to stick to our long-term commitment to climate change measures and the environmental impacts of carbon fuel.”
“We are doing a significant amount in this country. What we are doing in terms of retrofitting is incredibly significant. Again, I come back to Beaumont. Every third or fourth door I came across, I found retrofitting that had been done. This often involved older people who would not otherwise have been able to avail of it but who did because of the changes this Government made in terms of the fuel allowance. As a result, these older people were able to access the warmer homes scheme. We need to do more but the European Union needs to support countries to do so.”
“A number of speakers have mentioned the European response to what happened in Gaza. I would always cite that as a time when I was not proud to be European. I was very disappointed in the European response. There are two elements in terms of how we proceed on this issue. One involves the short-term measures Europe can take. When the package was being put together, we saw how so much of that package was affected by European regulations and rules. We have to look at how we can make European countries agile, nimble and able to respond to what could be an ever-increasing cost of oil. That is the first thing. The European Union needs to treat it as an emergency and needs to empower European nation states to respond to protect their citizens. It is a very obvious but sometimes disputed concept but we do have to transition away from carbon fuels.”
“I distinguish between those who were protesting and those who were blockading. Many who were protesting were among those affected by cost increases. I acknowledge the measures the Government introduced, the first being worth €250 million and the second €750 million. They are essentially tax cuts to try to support people in meeting their costs. However, we should not forget that this also means income forgone that could be used for public services. As we proceed as a country, we also need to be cautious about what we can do sustainably over the long period of time while always making sure that the strong economic model we have here benefits those people on the ground. I think Europe has been very strong at times in terms of acting as a bloc. We saw that during Covid and so on. At times when we are divided, the response is very poor.”
“War has devastating impacts on those who live in war zones and on global economic growth. What is very clear – I heard the Taoiseach piece this together – is that Europe is now dealing with the impact of two very significant wars within its geopolitical sphere. The war in Ukraine has had an incredible impact on gas prices. This had a corresponding impact on global supply chains and food costs. Now we see the impact on the cost of oil. As we look to the coming months, we need to be careful about how we proceed as a country, and the economic bloc of Europe must also be careful. There is no doubt that the increase in oil prices has a significant impact on economic growth. I hate to use the "R" word, but recession is always possible. We need to be very careful about how we proceed. People on the doors are talking about costs.”
“The Constitution dates back to 1937. Sometimes we take for granted how strong our Constitution is. We can see, from places like Hungary, how easily a European country's constitution can be eroded by an authoritarian regime. We have to be very careful of that within the European project. In this regard, Michael McGrath is doing significant work on the rule of law in the EU. This morning, I was canvassing in Beaumont. While European Council statements might not have been not high on the agenda, international affairs were. Many people I spoke to were incredibly concerned about the impacts and costs of what is happening in the Strait of Hormuz and the Middle East more generally. Whether it is a matter of the price of home heating oil or that of petrol or diesel, they are seeing the real impact of war on economies.”
“I thank the Aire Stáit. I commend him on staying in the House for the debate. It is important that Ministers who represent the country abroad hear the differing voices in the House. Statements on the European Council are always a very valuable exercise to allow us to put on the record our views and influence our Ministers when they are representing us abroad. The change of government in Hungary is welcome. I saw a photograph earlier this week of the Irish Council of State meeting and thought it perfectly captured how strong our republican constitutional democracy is. I am referring to the idea of an elected President using her powers, as outlined in the Constitution, to consider a Bill passed in this House, along with representatives appointed by her and representatives of both Houses of the Oireachtas.”
“Will he also help bring an end to the practice whereby ambulance drivers have to wait at acute hospitals for long periods to transfer patients from their care into the care of the hospital?”
“I want to raise with the Taoiseach a fairly harrowing incident that took place in my constituency over the weekend. Mary, a 91-year-old lady, fell and injured her hip at 2.15 p.m. and despite an ambulance being called, none attended to her until 6.15 p.m.. She was waiting, lying on the ground, for over four hours for an ambulance. A member of the Garda Síochána was there to assist her, and members of the public were there. This has caused widespread consternation in our community and led to other people worrying. Will the Taoiseach help me get to the bottom of what has happened here? Will he make sure that we have continued investment in our fire-based emergency service in Dublin, of which we are very proud?”
“I echo what Deputy Ellis has said. To reinforce the point, this is a very constrained site. It is quite compact. There is a portion of it that is owned by the religious order where housing is actually being developed. In the wider Santry area, it is very positive that we have more housing supply but there is an increasing population. Around the corner on the Swords Road, the Department of education has planned two 1,000-pupil secondary schools. This morning at the Committee of Public Accounts, the Secretary General of the Department of education said there were opportunities to include additional projects. St. Aidan's should be one of those.”
“We also need to make sure that there is no delay in terms of the school's ability to plan and design the project. Can other elements of the project be progressed while they are waiting for the final construction phase? The school community, the principal and the parents are really passionate about this project. They want it to happen because they know the difference it will make.”
“As Deputy Ellis has said, this is an incredible school. It is incredibly popular and it does an amazing job. Unfortunately, the principal of that school recently met Deputy Hearne, Deputy Ellis and me to ask the question, "To be, or not to be". The school is at stage 2B and the question is whether it will progress. What is proposed is fantastic. We are talking about 15 classrooms and 15 other rooms, including science labs, construction rooms, technology rooms and special education facilities. It is disappointing that the school is not on the priority list. The Tánaiste has given some indication that other projects will be funded. St. Aidan's and a number of other projects in our area need to be on the list the Department is progressing.”
“If the Minister of State could intervene with the DDSL, and if there could be a way of providing some funding through the FAI, I would appreciate if the Minister of State could try to make sure that children in these clubs can play with their own school friends in their own areas.”
“I am really worried that we have an opportunity to provide more municipal all-weather soccer facilities in our public parks, animating our public parks, and we should be doing this. I am passionate about football at school-age level. I have met many clubs involved at this level. I am concerned about the proposed merger of the north Dublin schools league with the North Eastern Regional League. Many of the clubs would like to be in the Dublin and District Schoolboys League, DDSL, so they play other clubs in their own areas and do not have to travel to Louth, Monaghan or Meath. It does not make any sense for clubs from my area to be travelling that distance given the cost. The issue is that the DDSL is under pressure for referees and resources. It is under pressure with regard to how many teams can come in.”
“This is where the city council and other local authorities need to step in. There need to be more municipal facilities. The Minister of State's predecessor, Deputy Thomas Byrne, was out in Kildonan Park where Finglas Celtic and Finglas United both use a new fantastic all-weather facility put in by the city council. The council needs to be developing more of these throughout the city. I encourage the Minister of State to contact the office of the chief executive in Dublin City Council to ask whether there will be all-weather pitches for Dublin city this year. There are no planning applications ready at this point. The question is whether it would be ready even if an application were to be successful.”
“David Courell of the FAI circulated a statement in advance of this debate. The number of people involved speaks for itself, with 245,000 registered players, 80,000 volunteers and 1.5 million fans engaging. There is no doubt of the benefit that soccer provides to Ireland and to communities throughout the country. Other Deputies have spoken about the issues of sports capital grants, land and the opportunity to develop facilities. It is really important, and the Minister of State said it when he was out with us, that clubs do not have to own land to apply for the sports grants. There are equipment grants available to clubs and I would say to every club not to believe the myth that they need to own their land. There is some funding available to them. It might not be the greater capital amount but the lower-level equipment grant is available.”
“I thank the Minister of State with responsibility for sport for being with us today. Earlier I heard Ministers being criticised for turning up at high-profile events. In the past I have also heard Ministers being criticised for not turning up at high-profile events. It is the work that happens at local level that I am most pleased with. I thank the Minister of State for coming to my constituency where he visited McKelvey Celtic and Tolka Rovers. There was no press or hoo-ha; it was about informing the clubs of what was available to them in terms of supports and grants and talking to them about the challenges they had. I thank the Minister of State for that and I know his predecessors in the role, Deputies Chambers and Thomas Byrne, made similar visits to different clubs. I will not get into naming all of them because I will forget some.”
“Even small numbers of Irish troops with respected expertise in peacekeeping require the permission of the 20th century imperial powers. It does not work in today's world. Respect for the UN does not mean surrendering sovereign judgment in the interests of the five permanent members. The protective framework of the UN is vital but it does not surpass our sovereignty, which was hard-won. If we are serious about peace, the answer cannot be unilateral escalation, like we have seen in the Middle East in recent years. We must see a renewed commitment to international law, genuine reform of global institutions and equal application of the rules to all states, large and small.”
“People may ask whether the United Nations is on the precipice of the same kind of collapse the League of Nations ultimately fell to. There is no doubt that reform is difficult, but it is necessary. We also know how difficult it is to secure and sustain peacekeeping missions. Vetoes are abused. Mandates are difficult to secure and consensus is fragile. We now need to focus on what is important to Ireland and our values. Ireland has long been a proud supporter of the United Nations and peacekeeping under its banner. As we have seen the groundhog develop at the Security Council, it has called into question our reliance on the triple lock mechanism. I do not support a situation where China, Great Britain, the United States or Russia can exercise a veto over where and when Ireland sends its Defence Forces.”
“If we concede that states can act unilaterally, we will return to a world that is governed more by might than by right. We must also be honest that the United Nations requires reform. Even if a state were to bring forward grievances and seek redress, the Security Council would not provide it. The Security Council reflects the power realities of 1945, not 2025 and the following years. Africa has no permanent representation. South America has none. Entire regions of the world are excluded from permanent decision-making authority at the Security Council and that democratic deficit weakens the legitimacy of the Security Council and, in turn, compliance with its resolutions. Non-compliance with UN resolutions is eroding the trust and confidence the world has in the United Nations.”
“However, in the same way as 7 October did not start the issues in Gaza, the incidents of last weekend did not start the tension between the United States and Iran. There is a long, documented history of aggression on both sides of that conflict. When attempts made to deal with the invasion of Iraq at the United Nations in 2003 are compared with the absence of any such attempt, even vain attempts or attempts made for pageantry purposes, it is clear the current US Administration feels it can act without even attempting to use international mechanisms for resolving disputes. What should Ireland do? We need to return to our core principles and our support for the multilateral rules-based order. It is not an abstract ideal. It is the only viable alternative to chaos and increasing violence.”
“Today innocent people are paying the price. Innocent Irish citizens are sheltering from bombardment in the Gulf region. People with no part in the geopolitical rivalry are living in fear. Across the region, civilians are being killed and, as is always the case, every innocent life lost diminishes us all. The immediate priority must be a ceasefire and an urgent de-escalation of what is taking place, not tomorrow, not when it is politically convenient for one side or the other, but now. I say that to the United States, Israel and Iran. There have been comments about there being two bully boys. Unfortunately, we have many more than two bully boys in this situation. Equally, there have been comments about what happened last weekend.”
“There is no doubt we are at a moment of grave international instability so let me begin by acknowledging a number of things. The Iranian regime is a deeply repressive one. Its sponsorship of proxy terrorist groups, its terrorism in parts of the region, destabilising activities in the region and its well-documented oppression of its people cannot be ignored. The brutality of those networks and the fear Iranians have of their government is well-documented. We also need to state clearly that no state, however powerful, should act unilaterally outside international law and United Nations mechanisms, as imperfect as they are. When the US chooses to bypass the UN framework, it weakens the system designed to prevent escalation of global conflicts. The rules cannot only apply to some nations. They must bind the powerful too.”
“I would rather have buses arriving on time than a company being fined. However, when it comes to for-profit operators, the facility to impose a financial penalty is important. There are bus services in my area that are operated by private operators. It is my preference that they not be there but that is the nature of the current framework. We must make sure they abide by the conditions under which they tendered for those contracts.”
“I appreciate the Minister's interest in this matter. I have engaged with him regarding the core bus corridors, which are incredibly welcome and which will facilitate speedier journeys into the city centre. Together with the tenders going out for the metro project, we are seeing substantial investment in future infrastructure. Before Christmas, at a meeting with public representatives, NTA representatives spoke about October being a difficult time to implement a new service, with increasing congestion heading into the Christmas period. They also spoke about issues with recruitment. Providers need to have these matters in order and they need to engage with the NTA. When a new service is being introduced by the NTA, it must be done in conjunction with the operator. The Minister referred to penalties.”
“My question relates to the punctuality of buses in my area. The recent roll-out of BusConnects on the F spine routes 23 and 24 has had a profound impact. Punctuality is not something one would have associated with the early phases or even the continuing phases. Will the Minister provide an update in respect of the obligations on providers in this regard?”
“How could we have a situation where the NCSE would send out such correspondence, which has had such a profound impact on schools across the country, and the Government and those people who support the Government were taken by surprise? There is a serious issue around oversight and the operation of this review. The Government acted quickly, but it should never have happened in the first place.”
“Of course, the people who received those letters thought there was a reduction because they were losing SNAs in their school. There was no context or wider discussion. My understanding is that only a certain number of schools were considered for the review while other schools were not considered. I ask how there can be a review that does not take into account all schools when trying to balance the use of SNAs across the system. There are serious governance and oversight issues here that we have to examine. How can a body like the NCSE issue letters to some schools that would see them losing multiple SNAs, and not realise the impact that would have? How could it apply the 2014 circular in the way it did? It would appear that in some parts of the country, it was very strictly interpreted, and in others, it was not.”
“Like my colleagues, I know first-hand the benefit that SNAs have had in my own family, and there are many others in my family who have worked as SNAs. That is why we, as Government TDs, when we voted for a programme for Government and for budgets, were pleased and proud to see increases in the number of SNAs. I can say clearly that we would not have voted either for a programme for Government or for budgets that saw a reduction in SNAs. Yet, last week, Government TDs and, it would appear, Ministers and the Taoiseach as well, were taken aback by correspondence from people who said their schools were losing large numbers of SNAs. I believe there is a question as to why the Government, a body of people who come into this House and support budgets, despite the implementation of that policy, found that the outcome was a reduction in SNAs.”
“It was a state-of-the-art hospital when it was built, but it now needs critical investment. Equally, we have a desperate shortage of GPs in Finglas. GPs are an incredibly important in the context of people seeking to access healthcare. As a result of the demographics that obtain, Finglas is not as attractive as other areas where people might pay for private doctor visits. It is often entirely reliant on medical cards. That is all the more reason why the HSE should provide a primary care centre.”
“The Tánaiste identified a particular matter there. For a long time when we had no money in the country, we had multistage processes to show that projects were progressing but they were not actually getting anywhere. We are now in a situation where we have plenty of money and where the multistage processes are delaying projects. That does not happen often. It is important to have public scrutiny of public money, but we need to see delivery. I do not doubt commitment of the Minister for Health on this. However, people at every level within the HSE need to know these projects are desperately needed because of the increase in our population and on foot of new and emerging needs. They are also desperately needed because Beaumont Hospital is over 40 years old.”
“Again, we want to make sure the HSE prioritises that project. Teach An Saol, which the Tánaiste has visited, is a centre for those with acquired brain injuries. We had a very welcome visit from Bernard Gloster and we have a commitment that the project is now at design and tender stage. We hope that will be concluded by the summer of this year and that we will move to have a new facility where the new national nuero team will also be in place. However, clear timelines are needed on that too. Anyone who has visited Cappagh Hospital - I visited it with the Tánaiste's predecessor, Leo Varadkar - will know that the old nightingale wards are awaiting replacement. There is a master plan that is crying out for investment. I would like to see more in the capital plan when it is published, which I believe may happen in the next number of weeks.”
“The €30 million allocated for Beaumont Hospital was very welcome and I know there are colleagues in the House, like Deputy Ó Muirí, Deputy Heneghan and my party colleague, Deputy Brabazon, who are working with the hospital to ensure the 20-bed cystic fibrosis unit is delivered later this year and that the 95-bed inpatient unit and the new emergency department are delivered. We want to see clear timelines for those projects. As we have learned, being in the capital plan alone is not enough. I also want to raise the issue of the primary care centre in Finglas which has been bogged down in a lot of planning over time. However, we are now getting to the point where enabling works, like the moving of pitches to facilitate new sports facilities as part of the primary care centre and so on, are all starting.”
“The way we will judge the performance of the people we support in here will be on the delivery of projects and the way we will be judged will be on the delivery of specific projects in each of our constituencies. I want to raise some of those projects with the Tánaiste because that is how the Government will be judged. Long-standing projects include Beaumont Hospital, the Finglas primary care centre, Teach An Saol in Ballymun, which I know the Tánaiste has visited, and the redevelopment of the National Orthopaedic Hospital at Cappagh.”
“I want to raise the issue of the national development plan and, in particular, health infrastructure and the delivery of it under the national development plan. For many of the Members in this House who support the Government each week, we want to know that our colleagues in Cabinet are making the national development plan a priority and that those projects within it are a priority. However, more importantly, we want to know that the mechanisms are put in place to ensure the timely delivery of critical infrastructure. I welcome the Minister for Health's recent publication of the sectoral plan which allocated almost €10 billion to the area. That is the most amount ever recorded for the area of health. I appreciate that will amount to €1.5 billion alone in 2026.”
“These laws will be known as Grace's law to remember her but the important thing now is that we put in place the measures to enforce them. Grace's mam was really clear; this was not an accident. She does not want to call it an accident. We need to ensure this can never happen again. I also acknowledge the loss of life in the city centre today and the families that were there.”