A fire attack on a car that left two Limerick children fighting for their lives was an incomprehensible act of savagery, The Minister of Defence Willie O'Dea said tonight.
The Limerick TD said extra gardai resources are available to draft into the Moyross area of Limerick city to stop sporadic violence which escalated at the weekend
Four-year-old Gavin Murphy and his sister, Millie, six, were in the back of a car parked at Pineview Gardens when the blaze started on Sunday afternoon.
Both youngster suffered serious injuries and remain at the National Paediatric Burns Unit at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin, Dublin.
Although senior gardai are continuing to investigate the incident, Mr O'Dea said evidence pointed to a deliberate attack.
Their parents, Sheila Murray and Niall McNamara, were left devastated by the incident, which they also believe was deliberate.
It is claimed three teenagers threw some sort of petrol bomb into the back of the vehicle while their mother sat in the driver's seat.
"The facts are not determined as yet, but it would appear to be a random unplanned act of incomprehensible savagery," Mr O'Dea, who met with investigating gardai today, told RTE radio.
"It is not absolutely clear how they caused the car to go on fire and if they were aware the children were in the car, but the evidence indicates they were aware which is extremely worrying indeed.
"The investigation is progressing very well and from what I have heard I am confident of a successful outcome."