Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

Every time the Minister is in the House for Question Time, he trots out the same meaningless drivel. He says everything is okay, resources are being deployed and the Government is in control of the situation, but the reality is there have never been so many gangland killings, with six killings in the past six days and 24 in less than 12 months. Two occurred in my constituency and the detection rate in gangland killings is the lowest of all indictable offences. Does the Minister accept we have a serious crisis on our hands? Does he further accept he has repeatedly mentioned the initiatives he outlined, and leadership, commitment and effectiveness are missing? Will he review existing operations such as Operation Anvil, which is a semi-permanent overtime mechanism in certain Dublin Garda stations rather than a fully drawn up strategy? Does he agree the Taoiseach should also become involved in this issue, a Cabinet hearing should be held with the Garda Commissioner and other senior officers to draw up and resource a strategy with appropriate finance, modern equipment and personnel, and that this is the way forward?

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