Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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We have a progressive, forward-thinking and common-sense approach. Chief Superintendent Derek Smart is excellent at his job and inspires confidence. While we are dealing with people with addiction, we need to look at organised crime gangs which, unfortunately, operate in my city. They have a stranglehold in parts of the city. Crack cocaine did not just appear in Limerick. As I have said publicly previously, they marketed and designed it. They knew exactly what they were doing and targeted heroin users, who are the most vulnerable people. The Garda has carried out very good operations in Limerick targeting those gangs in the past couple of years. In responses to parliamentary questions, I see there have been dozens of house searches in a particular area.

We get funding every now and again. We have had various operations, including Operation Tara. When money is available for those, including additional money for overtime, etc., we can do really good stuff. Unfortunately, we do not have the money for overtime. Is that a frustration for the Garda? As I keep saying, gardaí cannot respond if they do not exist.