Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I am about to conclude. The gardaí do not appear to be able to deal with the weapons issue. The other side of the problem is drugs. The drugs problem has expanded across the country.

There are many issues and community policing is a positive way of dealing with some of them. However, other areas of concern require a more structured response than is provided in this legislation. While we acknowledge the good provisions in the legislation, in a number of areas the Minister's response has been inadequate. It might be necessary to revisit the legislation. That is the reason the Minister should have taken on board some of the proposals we have put forward, including this one. It has been ruled out of order on the one hand and has been ruled in order on the other. Regardless of whether it is in order, it has enormous merit.

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