Mr. Liam Herrick:

There may be a question about whether the criminal law was inadequate to deal with what would seem to be, on the face of it, a significant nuisance and public order problem. We would need to have a better explanation of why individual Garda units took the view that there was not a sufficient legal basis to go forward. A civil remedy was available in that particular instance. Of course, we are confusing nuisance, public order and public health matters. We have a clear view that public health matters should be dealt with by health agencies to the greatest extent possible. For example, the Health and Safety Authority could perform certain functions as opposed to involving the Garda in areas that are really inappropriate for community policing.