Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

Over the past months, Opposition parties warned the Government of the danger of innocent people being gunned down on the streets because of the increase in internal gangland warfare, principally over drugs and money. This has now happened, unfortunately, in a number of tragic cases from Donna Cleary to Anthony Campbell and Alan Cunniffe, with another death in County Louth occurring this morning, apparently linked to a spate of car hijackings.

The Government was warned by the Opposition parties that it was not doing enough to meet this scourge head-on when there is evidence of people driving on the M50 with flak jackets firing machine guns across lanes, innocent people being gunned down and people being assassinated in broad daylight. It is time for the Government to get serious about this extremely serious problem.

The Taoiseach consistently told us he received security briefings in recent months and pointed out that Mr. Hyland's name came up in all of them. If that is the case, and the Taoiseach has been briefed about this, why did the Government not grant sufficient resources or imprimatur to the gardaí and the CAB to place these people under surveillance? Why was the CAB not in a position to follow the money trail to its conclusion? How can shipments of drugs be ordered by mobile phone from prison? Why, after ten years of knowledge of the activities of the assassinated Mr. Hyland, were he and his fellow drugs barons not put out of business when children lie orphaned as a consequence of their actions?

In the Taoiseach's briefings, was he given information by the gardaí or the Army that Mr. Hyland, the assassinated drug baron, was directly involved in the recent murder of the Latvian woman, Baiba Saulite, who left two young children behind? Did the briefing include evidence this person was directly linked to that murder?

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