Sinn Féin Leader on Dublin City Council and European election candidate for Dublin, Daithí Doolan, has said that the Butler Report into protection payments made to criminals must be made public.

Cllr Doolan added that a memo sent by Dublin City Council CEO to councillors was too little too late, and that for the public to have any confidence in the report and council procedures, then the report needs to be published in full and robust action taken to keep sites and workers protected from criminality.

Cllr Doolan said:

“This is too little too late. It has taken five years to complete a report that is now shrouded in secrecy. There should be no secrecy with this report. This report should be published in full.

“I saw at first hand the hugely negative effect of criminals muscling in on security contracts in Ballyfermot. A builder was seriously injured, a legitimate security company bullied off site and a community left feeling vulnerable to criminal gangs.

“It was my colleague Aengus Ó Snodaigh and myself who first raised the alarm on this issue in Ballyfermot. We contacted Dublin City Council, An Garda Síochána and Government ministers highlighting this unacceptable activity. We stand over these concerns. This whole sorry affair has taken far too long to be resolved.

“We must ensure this never happens again on building sites in Dublin or anywhere else.

“Local authorities and voluntary housing bodies must be able to build homes without fear of being held to ransom by criminals.

“We need the report to be published and robust action taken to ensure this never happens again.

“We need the Gardaí to be able to keep sites and workers safe from attack and allow construction to proceed without threats from criminal gangs.”