Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

It was a complete accident, totally due to weather conditions and no intelligence was obtained. The Taoiseach clearly does not know any more than do I about whether this was a regular feature. We do not know whether similar consignments got through. Moreover, the Taoiseach has not really commented on the adequacy of the coastal, naval or customs services. I noted that the principal customs officer in the region stated that Ireland was regarded as a soft touch. The entire resources available to the Customs and Excise service consist of a single small boat to police the entire coastline and nothing that happens in Lisbon will change this.

I wish to ask the Taoiseach about the review the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, told my colleague, Deputy Burton, would be carried out on the airports. This followed a similar consignment, albeit not of this scale, that came through Weston Aerodrome and the discovery in the House that not only was that aerodrome not licensed for such traffic but that there is no customs invigilation there. I gather there is only a part-time customs service in other airports I will not name.

This appears to constitute Ireland's state of preparation to deal with a phenomenon that is literally killing some of our citizens and ravaging some of our communities. We seem entirely unprepared for it, given the existence of an airport within 20 miles of O'Connell Street at which one could land a private craft laden with drugs without anyone even asking one's destination and given that the Customs and Excise service depends on a single small boat.

This is a serious issue and people working with the national drugs strategy will state that insufficient back-up is being given to those who are concerned with attempting to reduce demand for drugs. This is also a very important part of the solution, namely, to reduce demand for drugs here. I do not take much comfort from the Taoiseach's comments. The event that took place off Goleen was a complete accident. We cannot claim we had any intelligence or capability to combat it. It is one of these things and the sheer size of it is amazing, even by international standards. It puts the haul in "The French Connection" into the penny halfpenny place. It will be a cause of grave concern to many parents nationwide to think that such a cargo can be landed here, transported through, some of it sold to another jurisdiction and inadequate provision of resources made to our authorities to combat it.

See this speech in context