Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)

I thank the Minister of State for his detailed reply and I wish to be associated with the congratulations offered to the Garda in respect of the recent finds.

The problem in my constituency relates to what one would call drug barons' safehouses. When they live in an area, they create a mechanism whereby drugs can be hidden while being moved in and out of or around the country. What linkage is there between the Departments of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Garda in accumulating all of the relevant information? The success of intense surveillance, etc, is obvious. The books of crime correspondents agree on this matter. People can tell where there is a drug baron in a constituency.

What is the next stage? The seizure in question was a perfect example of good policing, but how can it be expanded upon? What linkages are there between the Departments referred to, the Garda and the drug agencies in, for example, County Kildare? Residents are deeply concerned by what is occurring. Given the deaths in Dublin and the number of people who are of the drug baron standard, the question I am asked regularly is when will the same occur in Kildare.

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