Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

This House has spent a considerable amount of time this week discussing the brutal killing of Shane Geoghegan. It is right that we should mark our horror and revulsion at the outrage that has taken place. We want to show solidarity with Shane's family and friends, and stand as one with the people of Limerick and throughout Ireland in their sense of shock and grief at what has taken place. Above all, whatever political differences divide this House, we are united in sending a clear message to the perpetrators of this evil deed and others like them that no resources will be spared in hunting them down and bringing them to justice.

The bleak events of last Sunday in Limerick highlight starkly the threat posed by members of criminal gangs. I propose to set out some of the measures the Government has taken, and will continue to take, to address this threat. I wish to make clear at the outset that the Government will rule nothing out that is reasonable and consistent with the rule of law in tackling these gangs. Deputies on all sides of the House have made specific suggestions during the course of this week and I have no doubt more will do so today. I will examine all these suggestions with an open mind. However, it does no service to anybody to pretend there is a magic solution to this type of problem which simply requires some particular action on the part of the Government. Were that the case, we would have done so long ago, as would Administrations in many other countries where problems with gangland crime are far more severe and of longer duration than in this State. This is not a counsel of despair. Rather, I seek merely to reinforce what I have said to the House before, that the fight against gangland crime will be long and must be waged relentlessly.

In the wake of the tragedy that took place at the weekend, it is difficult to talk of the successes which the men and women of the Garda Síochána have had in counteracting organised crime. However, in fairness to those who daily put their lives on the line to protect the community, it is right to point out their many successes. There were 27 murders involving a firearm in 2006, and this was reduced to 18 in 2007. This year, homicide offences have dropped by more than a half in the third quarter and by almost a half year-on-year.

Of course, these statistics represent a completely unacceptable level of killings and do nothing to detract from the awfulness of what happened at the weekend. However, as Minister with responsibility for the Garda Síochána, I would be failing in my duty were I not to recognise the improvements which the untiring work of the Garda Síochána has brought about. Through the efforts of gardaí, there are many people in prison who are paying the price for their involvement in gangland activities. If anything, the callous nature of the killing last weekend has reinforced the determination of all members of the force to pursue relentlessly for as long as it takes every person involved in organised crime. I have no doubt they will have the full support of every Member in so doing.

Section 20 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 provides for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to determine and, from time to time, revise the policing priorities of the Garda Síochána. I have finalised those priorities for 2009 and they will go to the Cabinet next week for noting. The small number of policing priorities I have set will clearly reflect the paramount importance and absolute priority of "targeting serious crime, in particular organised, gun and drug related crime".

Members will understand why I do not want to go into any detail about the intensive Garda investigation taking place into the death of Shane Geoghegan. Many lines of inquiry are being pursued and the Commissioner is keeping me regularly briefed. I spoke to him again before coming into the House. He has indicated that he has all the tools he requires to deal with the situation. The Government relies on his professional assessment of the situation, but we have made clear that we will act immediately if anything else is needed by way of resources or legislation.

I will not detain the House for long with a litany of the vast range of measures introduced in recent years to tackle the problem of serious crime. However, it is incumbent on me, in order to put the debate in context, to mention some of them. Recent years have seen a great increase in the number of gardaí. Over the course of 2008 and 2009, the attested strength of the force will have increased by 1,100. In the last year alone, there has been a 12% increase in Garda numbers in Limerick city, and a 40% increase since 2003. In the last 21 months, the number of civilians employed by the Garda Síochána has increased by 59% to 2,038, including an increase of 20% so far this year. From the start of this year to the end of 2009, the attested strength of the force will have grown by more than 1,100 to almost 14,900, an increase of 8%. More than 1 million additional rostered hours will be available next year arising from the increase in the strength of the force. These are not new initiatives to be announced but rather concrete new resources to be deployed in the fight against crime.

Operation Anvil, which was commenced in 2005 in the Dublin metropolitan region and extended nationwide during 2006, specifically targets serious and organised criminal activity. I secured a ring-fenced budget of €20 million for 2008, increasing to €21 million for 2009, despite the overall budgetary situation. The budget for the Criminal Assets Bureau, which has proved invaluable in going after those involved in gun crime, will increase by 20% next year. In the preparation of my Department's Estimates, I directed that frontline policing be given absolute priority, and that is what has been achieved. This has inevitably led to reductions in funding for some other bodies under my Department's aegis, but I make no apology for that. Funding must follow our priorities. There is no more fundamental human right to which all our citizens are equally entitled than the protection of their lives and property from those who break the law.

I can disclose to the House updated figures for Operation Anvil which I received from the Garda Commissioners yesterday. In the period up to 2 November, in the Dublin metropolitan region, Operation Anvil resulted in more than 120 arrests for murder, the seizure of 1,192 firearms, 59,235 drug searches, the seizure of 21,351 vehicles, the implementation of 102,000 checkpoints and €31.6 million worth of property recovered. Outside Dublin, 23,346 arrests were made and 983 firearms seized. These figures are a good indication of the relentless and comprehensive nature of the activities being undertaken by the Garda. We have also made an unprecedented investment in equipment and technology for the force.

Substantial changes have been made to the criminal law. While the Criminal Justice Acts 2006 and 2007 did not receive unanimous support in the House, nobody will dispute that they were a genuine attempt to take any and all legislative action open to the Government to counteract the problem of gangland crime. It is against this background that calls for further changes in the law must be viewed. I reiterate that we will take any action by legislation or otherwise open to us to tackle the problem of gangland crime. On the other hand, it would be a disservice to the people we represent to engage in legislative acts of delusion for the sake of being seen to do something. We must bear in mind the fundamental point that we simply cannot legislate away the need for evidence.

This brings me to some of the suggestions that have been made by Members opposite and by people outside the House in terms of changes we might usefully make to our laws. I emphasise that I do not in any way question the good faith of those making the suggestions. In many cases, I do not have any difficulty with the principle of what is being proposed. However, serious difficulties arise in regard to their implementation.

Calls have been made, for instance, for the greater use of the Special Criminal Court. This court can be, and has been, used in dealing with gang members charged with offences unrelated to paramilitary activity. The Director of Public Prosecutions has the power to direct that any trial take place in the Special Criminal Court where he is satisfied that the ordinary courts are insufficient to secure the effective administration of justice. It is also a matter of public record that many cases involving gang members have taken place successfully in the ordinary courts, including drugs and firearms cases. Convictions against gang members from Limerick for murder have been secured in the ordinary courts.

The use of the Special Criminal Court has also been mentioned in the context of using opinion evidence from a chief superintendent in regard to a person's participation in a gang. I do not dispute the superficial attractiveness of that proposal, but all the advice available to me is that it could bring with it insuperable problems. Leaving aside the fact that, of their nature, gangs do not have the same type of organised structures as paramilitary organisations and so membership is much more difficult to establish, the courts have already held that such opinion evidence is not conclusive and, in practice, the courts have tended to disregard such evidence if the accused denies such membership on oath — which would be bound to happen in the case of persons accused of participating in gangs. The situation is even more fraught with difficulty if such evidence were to be used in ordinary courts where there are juries because of its prejudicial effect, thus, to put it mildly, raising grave doubts about its constitutionality in terms of the presumption of innocence until proven guilty and the right to a fair trial.

The Garda Commissioner has already expressed the view that the laws are adequate for the Garda to tackle the issues being confronted at present. That does not mean, of course, that either he or I have a closed mind on taking forward measured changes in the law as part of the process of keeping our general criminal law under review. That will include legislation on surveillance and DNA.

Only those brutal enough to murder Shane Geoghegan could fail to be moved by the scenes of deep and dignified grief at his funeral in Limerick yesterday. We can expect nothing we say here today to assuage that grief in any way. However, his family and friends have whatever small consolation they can take from the fact that every Member of this House, on behalf of the people we represent, is determined that his death will not be forgotten and that we will do everything we can to help prevent such tragedies happening in the future. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

See this speech in context