Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate on crime. The Government must urgently increase Garda numbers and make the necessary reforms to justice legislation to get a grip on crime. For too long criminals have stuck two fingers up to the justice system and the gardaí. They are running riot in our city and afraid of no one.

Gun crime, organised crime and the drugs industry are out of control. The recent shooting of Garda Paul Sherlock shows how low the gangs operating in our city will stoop. The Minister's mission in his new job should be to put these gangs out of business, making our streets safe once more. One crime is one too many.

We have a major issue with illicit drugs, particularly cocaine, in our society. Not long ago a major shipment was retrieved off the south coast by chance. How many shipments arrive on a weekly basis without being intercepted? We can learn from cities like New York that have dealt effectively with gun crime. A delegation from New York visited earlier today so I hope we can learn from their achievements.

To tackle crime we need a more visible Garda presence on our streets and an expanded force. The force must be properly equipped, as recommended in the Garda Inspectorate report. It is not good enough that gardaí must use their own mobile phones or cars while on duty. We need more closed circuit television cameras on our streets. CCTV acts as a strong deterrent to crime and the antisocial behaviour that plagues our streets, as Deputy Ring described. There are certain black spots where CCTV is needed and it should be employed immediately.

We need greater resources for youth work initiatives and early intervention programmes. I attended the information briefing by the National Youth Council of Ireland and it does some great work. We should encourage the youth of today to use their time more positively and to avoid trouble.

I hope the Minister will make criminals afraid of the law while making our streets safe again.

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