Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I know the Garda have to collect the evidence and perhaps it would have a better chance of getting evidence if members of the force were working more in the community than they appear to be. The availability of gardaí in some communities is very low. I suggest that a Garda presence in the community would increase the possibility of getting evidence. Second, the Taoiseach has been urged by the Court of Criminal Appeal to have a statutory basis for a witness protection programme. The Labour Party has proposed this on a number of occasions, and I suggested it would make it easier for people to provide evidence to the Garda. Third, I suggest the National Drugs Strategy be implemented in full, as it appears to be on the backburner, and we know that crime is related to drug activity. It would be helpful also if the Taoiseach were to legislate to make membership of a criminal gang a criminal offence. I suggest there is a need to introduce reforms into the court system, so that the cases can be brought to trial more quickly than currently, because one of the difficulties that exposes witnesses to intimidation and to fear is the prolonged period between the committal of the crime, the arrest of the suspect and the case being brought to trial. The five suggestions I have put forward would help what the Taoiseach has rightly described as the difficulty the Garda has in assembling evidence to put these people away.

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