Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)

——give evidence against their fellow criminals. For whatever reason, these people are prepared to give evidence and tell the truth and should be supported. That brings into question the whole issue of what is commonly known as the witness protection scheme. I wonder whether we have sufficiently developed it. In the Minister's response to a recent parliamentary question, I was particularly concerned to note that the amount of money spent on witness protection had halved in the past year from €1 million to €500,000. Some years ago during the Gilligan appeal, I also strongly noted the views on the scheme expressed by Mr. Justice McCracken.

Having put the provisions on organised crime into place, the next job for the House, the Government or the next Government will be to examine the operations of the witness protection scheme and determine whether they can be developed or put on a statutory basis or whether we could have guidelines that would be fully acceptable by the courts. I am not referring to any particular case. Rather, I am referring to the broad principle.

In other countries, witness protection schemes have had a significant role in dealing with organised crime and I encourage all colleagues who have a genuine interest in dealing with crime, particularly organised crime, to examine this matter. In the meantime, I am glad the Minister has taken on board the need to put the framework in place. I particularly compliment the officials in his Department and the Attorney General's office, who have recently received some criticism, on the way in which they have devised the scheme, which stands up. I endorse their efforts.

Let us view these provisions as a considerable building block. As the Minister said, let us not overemphasise their initial importance in the fight against crime, but we should determine how to develop that building block. This challenge confronts us all. So far, so good; sufficient unto the day.

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