Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I have no doubt the Minister is in contact, but he is not doing anything specific or effective about the problem. We are still waiting for the 2,000 phantom gardaí. What is the Minister's response to the fact that in recent annual reports from the Garda and most recent quarterly reports, there are substantial increases in figures for shootings, manslaughter, murder, drug usage and gangland activity? All of these are increasing. These are crimes of violence against the person and the community. They have increased substantially in every quarter for a considerable period.

We cannot be complacent, and no amount of articulation of how good things are in certain areas will do. Even theft of bicycles has increased by 60%, which indicates that levels of so-called low grade crime are very serious. When the Minister entered office in 2002, there was no crack cocaine in the country, but now there is about to be an epidemic. During the term of office of the Minister's predecessor, there was very little cocaine use at all. In 2000, for instance, there was no cocaine in the country, but it has now become the most serious drug problem in the country.

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