David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Commissioner on what was reported this morning in the media. Obviously, the Garda has had significant success with the grow houses, which are a relatively new phenomenon. He might like to comment on that as well.

The Commissioner mentioned repeatedly in his presentation that gangland crime seems to be driven by the drugs issue and many colleagues have commented on that here. Can he give us an idea of the kind of Garda successes last year overall in capturing drugs and of the trends over the past number of years? Crystal methamphetamine, which is extremely dangerous, is now coming on the scene. Is there any jurisdiction winning what the Commissioner called this "battle" against the drugs cartels, etc.? Is there any jurisdiction experiencing success in this regard? I note that many countries are putting a great deal of funding into this, and yet it seems ongoing.

Deputy Mac Lochlainn and others mentioned the demographic factors and those in deprived areas being preyed upon. Am I correct in stating that this is no respecter of social class, that those across the board are using these substances? Has the Commissioner any words for those who might be using these substances in the context of fuelling the demand for drugs which leads indirectly to the type of violence and gangland killings that occurred recently in Dublin that prompted this meeting today? Deputy Senator Martin Conway alluded to the fact that RTE is now showing a picture of what is happening, of which, thankfully, many of us have no experience but the Garda members do. The Commissioner might comment on those.