Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on these amendments. It is extraordinary, just over two years after this Bill was presented, that we are finally getting around to deal comprehensively with it in the House. I strongly support these amendments. I reiterate at the outset the nub of my party's policy, which is tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime.

In my constituency and neighbouring constituencies the past six months of the McDowell era have been appalling for many individuals, families and the entire community. There have been attacks on homes, SUVs driven through walls and into doors, people shot at and homes shot up. A man with a child walking into a flats complex was shot at. Guns have been available all over the place, with people waving guns about and holding guns to people's heads on a local green. Guns have been available for €150 and less. There has been a total collapse of law and order for which the Minister is responsible. Is it any wonder some of my constituents are asking me what should they do now? Is it time for internment, for example? Is it time to consider taking the drug lords off the streets completely, get rid of them into preventative detention? As every crime journalist seems to know who these people are, I presume senior gardaí know who they are. We need to take vigorous action against them. It is unbelievable that two years have passed since these measures on criminal gangs, Mafioso and gun law were brought forward. It is unbelievable we have had to wait so long.

There have been so many shootings recently and, fortunately, by the grace of God, nobody was killed. Then there was the tragic murder of Ms Donna Cleary, a young woman who lived in an area I represented for eight or nine years, up to 2002. It is inevitable that such a tragedy would happen because the Minister did not take the vigorous, determined action that is required of him. I warned him in contributions nearly a year ago that in parts of the area I represent, and in neighbouring areas, bullet-proof vests were becoming almost a fashion accessory. With people in bullet-proof vests running around threatening communities, people and families, what did the Minister do?

Yesterday there was another serious armed robbery in my constituency. We need to take stern measures against these people who are threatening our society. Up until recently the threat seemed to be to the low-income, more deprived communities. Following a recent Saturday night, when it was clear it was spreading to every community, the Minister and the Taoiseach spoke at long last about taking action. It is appalling that they have been so dilatory for so long.

As many people accept the current Minister is a fundamentally bright man, they thought that when he got his chance to be Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform three or four years ago he would have set out a clear programme of reform and development of the Garda Síochána and of reform of the Judiciary. Although my colleague, Deputy Howlin, put forward an effective developmental and strengthening policy for the Garda Síochána when he was my party's justice spokesperson, the Minister, Deputy McDowell, did not act on it. He brought forward a Garda Bill, which had to be amended repeatedly, with no Garda authority and no clear, strong ombudsman on the lines of the Patten report for which, I think, everyone in this House asked. The Minister bears a grave responsibility.

A young colleague told me on the way into this debate that according to the OECD figures newly published on the web, Ireland spent the least on sports and youth facilities. Year after year Deputies try to drag money out of this Government. Deputy Carey, a Fianna Fáil Member who sat with me for a number of years on the urban regeneration committee of this city, knows how difficult it is to get money for these kinds of communities. I ask Deputy Carey and other similar Deputies to start taking action, even in the dying days of this Government, to bring about peace and justice for my communities.

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