Mr. Martin Callinan:

Deputy Mac Lochlainn is right when he speaks about small numbers of individuals trying to exercise control over communities. That is the case. In the Garda Síochána, we are constantly trying, through joint policing committees and other community fora, to make the point that there are opportunities here for communities to take ownership of their communities and work with us. That is easier said than done, and we all know that, particularly when one is dealing with criminals at the high end of the scale. It has, however, been proven to have worked, particularly in areas where communities did stand up to these people.

That presents its own problems for us, as an organisation. It means we have to consider working with the witness protection programme or moving people, and so on. The Deputy spoke about the multi-agency approach and the other models. The Croke Park agreement provides an opportunity to explore some of those issues further.

Enforcement is not the solution to everything, although we have seen huge rates of enforcement, particularly in the last 36 hours. This morning the media reported a number of searches conducted, arrests made and grow houses discovered. Drugs with a street value of over €3.5 million were seized. That is on top of the other drugs seized this year, which far and away outweigh what was seized last year. There are lessons here for everyone. There is now a realisation that policing is not one-dimensional. It involves more than enforcement. It also involves educating our younger people and getting dialogue going with the other agencies of the State and with everyone involved in the criminal justice system. The prisons and the probation service have been mentioned. Dialogue and discussion with them is ongoing. The Croke Park agreement may provide another vehicle to advance that further.

All the elements need to be working. If it were just a question of enforcement the amount of drugs we have seized in the recent past would tell its own story.