Fine Gael TD Mr Alan Shatter's assertion yesterday that the escalating street violence in Dublin was unacceptable and that a policy of zero tolerance had been replaced by zero competence brought a strong reaction from Fianna Fail last night.
Mr Pat Carey, TD for Dublin North West, said that Fine Gael's "studied insults to the Garda Siochana" amounted to no more than a "poor alternative to real policies" for tackling crime: "Deputy Shatter appears to have little understanding of the respective responsibilities of the Minister for Justice and the gardai in addressing crime."
Mr Shatter said that Dubliners no longer felt safe, either in the city centre or in their own neighbourhoods. "Marauding gangs of youths feel free to engage in acts of thuggery and inflict serious and fatal injury without fear of Garda intervention."
Too frequently, he said, gardai were "nowhere to be found" and some, when informed of incidents, had "a limited interest in responding". Mr Shatter's reference to "marauding gangs" was an insult to the gardai in Dublin and "an ill-deserved mockery" of the work they did, said Mr Carey.