Mr. Tony Hickey:

As I am not familiar with the statistics given by the Senator, I cannot comment on them, but it makes no difference, as we are talking about the position in Ireland. There are ongoing operations. We have legislation in place and a constitution under which we must operate. The activities of the people mentioned are fluid, despite the Good Friday Agreement, the peace process and so on, and the issue will not be resolved here. However, I would not like to give the impression that nothing is being done. These are small groups and quite a few of the people about whom we are talking have been in prison and released, while others are before the courts. Therefore, it is not all bad news and a disaster. Some of the suggestions made may help to eradicate the problem, but it is difficult to solve, as there are supply and demand issues. People go into shops to buy a packet of cigarettes and smoke them, yet a notice on the packet reads, "smoking kills". One could have a skull and crossbones or a tombstone and skeleton on it and some would still smoke. People will still buy contraband goods, as they go for a bargain. It is like the drug trade. It is an international phenomenon which has not been solved anywhere. If one was speaking to a police office from Colombia in South America, he or she would say that his or her country would not have a problem if people in western and European countries did not use cocaine. It is the chicken and egg syndrome, but we must keep at it. That is the reason we are here to make suggestions. However, we will not solve the problem overnight. We can all remember the grim situation of the 1970s and 1980s and what happened in the North because of the activities of the Provisional IRA and various other groups. It is, of course, disappointing that there are people who are still engaged in this activity, but it is now on a different scale. The Criminal Assets Bureau was set up in 1996 and it appeared to be the answer to our prayers. Nevertheless, there is drug dealing; there are criminal gangs and people are being assassinated. Sometimes people are shot because somebody does not like them.