Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

Does the Minister agree that these gangsters are not living in fear of anybody and that there is now a subculture of vicious crime that needs to be addressed? Does he agree that the standard stage-managed response of the Government over the past five years or more has been to say that, on foot of a meeting with the Garda Commissioner, the Minister has been assured the question of resources is not an issue? This well-worn mantra is no longer valid in the context of Kathleen O'Toole's report.

Will the Minister comment on improvements for the emergency response unit and his attitude towards arming further units of the Garda Síochána? Will he consider favourably discussing with the Garda Commissioner the concept of introducing the Defence Forces as back-up, if necessary? We are dealing with circumstances in which the Garda is so under-resourced that it is not equipped properly to deal with this issue. We need a response of a kind that has not featured to date.

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