Peter Kelly (Longford-Roscommon, Fianna Fail)

——and going to work. Fair dues to the Deputy.

There are 1,743 more gardaí today than in June 1997. The current recruitment drive is the largest for new gardaí since the foundation of the State. Starting in January 2005, more than 1,100 new gardaí per year have been and will be recruited for each of the years, 2005-07, inclusive. New recruits will not be stuck behind desks. They will be engaged in high visibility policing. They will be on the front line, out and about and engaged with people in towns, communities and cities. This means numbers in the Garda Síochána have never been greater, nor has the force ever been better resourced. This year the Garda Síochána has the highest level of resources in its history, €1,290 million, an increase of €146 million on 2005. The provision of Garda overtime in 2006 will ensure record levels of policing by uniformed and special units throughout the State. Almost €1 billion is being spent on justice.

We are committed and support law and order. On the major expenditure on justice, I welcome the new courthouse at Main Street, Longford, which will be in operation shortly. We expect the first court sittings in the autumn, at the latest. Under this Government, 1,200 new prison places have been provided since 1997. This will be increased further when the new facilities in Spike Island and Thornton Hall are completed and will bring an end to the revolving door system that previously operated. Under this Government the budget for the Prison Service has been increased by 100% and we have tackled the decades-long problem of excessive overtime in the prisons, resulting in a saving of €25 million for the taxpayer.

We welcome the administration section of the Prison Service to Longford. The diggers are on site, work has started and we look forward to its headquarters being located in Longford, shortly. I thank everyone in the Prison Service for the great help and support and for agreeing to come to Longford. We also thank the pipe band of the Prison Service for participating in the St. Patrick's Day parade in the town, getting involved with the community straightaway.

The Government introduced a mandatory ten years prison sentence for drug dealers. The Opposition opposed the legislation. The drugs problem is very serious and affecting too many. It has to stop. We appeal to people to stop purchasing drugs but the drug dealers are playing havoc with them and ruining our country. Drug dealers are in the minority and there should be no let-up or excuses for not tackling them. The Legislature and the Judiciary must be independent but the message should go out that while we know there are people who do not mean to break the law and get into trouble, if the law is broken they will have to pay the penalty. If people believe they will get away with breaking the law, they will break it.

I am glad the Bill contains plans to ensure that the grounds for considering a sentence of less than ten years are clarified. It is proposed that against mitigating factors such as co-operation and a guilty plea the court will be required to take account of previous drug trafficking convictions. A record of such convictions will be a counterbalance to any reduction that may have been felt to be appropriate. Provision will also be made for a new offence of importing drugs with a value in excess of €13,000. This offence will attract the minimum ten-year sentence. A drug offenders' register will be established, properly and rightly. This matter is too serious. People involved in drugs will not stop unless they are caught. They will have to be caught and the full rigours of the law applied. We are warning people to have nothing to do with illicit drugs or drug dealing, and not to become addicted. The law will come down heavily on transgressors. They must not think they will get away from now on, because ten years is just that and there should be no time off for anybody involved in drugs.

We must also ensure that drug offenders are registered with the Garda. The proposal is based on the same principle as the sex offenders register and will enable the movement of convicted drug dealers to be recorded in a similar fashion, that is, change of address and movement in and out of the State. This will help the Garda to monitor illegal activity and should provide useful intelligence in the fight against drug crime. Given the recent occurrence of gangland murders, we must progress these matters urgently and tackle the root of the problem.

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