Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

With respect, the Taoiseach went way over time in avoiding answering the question. He says he does not have the figure for the number of convictions, which I find amazing given that he has a figure for every possible question that might be asked during Leaders' Questions. My question was: of the 150 gun murders committed in the State since the Taoiseach took office, how many convictions have been made? To help the Taoiseach, I have done a tot and come to a figure of 24 out of 150, approximately one in six. Is that correct? Is it true? Can he admit to the people that of the 150 savage gun murders that have occurred since he took office, only one in six perpetrators has been caught and put away?

I accept there are difficulties, some of which the Taoiseach alluded to, of people not talking and being afraid to give evidence. This is why the Labour Party proposed two legislative measures that we have been asking the Government to implement since the Dáil resumed last September, namely, the witness protection legislation and the Garda surveillance Bill. These would give the Garda the additional powers of surveillance it needs to put the criminal gangs away and provide protection for those who give evidence against them.

Will the Taoiseach, at least, do the House and the country a service by admitting that the figure is only one in six convictions, 24 out of 150, and take on board the measures the Labour Party proposed to deal with this problem? We cannot continue with the situation where murders take place week in week out. There is barely a weekend when one of these gangland, gun-related, drug-related killings does not takes place and it cannot continue. There is a need to deal with it and I ask the Taoiseach to do so by taking on board the Labour Party's proposals. I also ask him, as a man who has a figure for every question, to acknowledge that the number of convictions is only 24 out of 150.

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