Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I do not want to probe the appalling crime too deeply either. Is any breakthrough anticipated by the Garda authorities in this regard? The figures we had earlier showed there has been a 50% increase in gun murders in the third quarter, which is an appalling level of carnage by a small number of gangsters running areas of our city. We have had 137 such gun murders since 1998, with only 20 convictions, which is less than 15%. Is that not an alarming level of detection and conviction? What legislative proposals does the Minister have in an attempt to combat this phenomenon? Was the Minister's answer in respect of surveillance and the use in evidence of information secured through surveillance given off the top of his head as he seemed to indicate on television the other night, or is it a considered proposal that the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission made in 1998 and as yet unimplemented will now be implemented? Why does the Department seem minded not to implement those recommendations over the years since 1998?

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