Michael Noonan (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

Mr. Shane Geoghegan was a decent, law-abiding young man with a love of sport and he was an inspiration to his younger club members. He was both popular and respected. I wish to again sympathise with his mother Mary, his father Tom, his brother Anthony, his fianceé Jenna and his extended family.

Everyone in Limerick can name the principal gang members involved. Everyone knows that they organise the drugs trade, not only in Limerick but much further afield, that they are very well armed and financed, and move through the city with impunity. I am confident the Garda in Limerick will solve Mr. Shane Geoghegan's murder. The record of the Garda in Limerick is very good. It has solved almost all the gang murders in the city, ten out of 14 according to the Minister for Defence, Deputy O'Dea. The total number solved is 16 cases out of 130, and so ten out of 14 solved cases is a good batting average for the Garda in Limerick. However, it is no longer sufficient for the Government to measure success in terms of the numbers of murders solved.

These people are a threat to society. The Dáil must acknowledge that threat and resolve to defeat it. We must acknowledge that known, high profile gangsters have the freedom of our cities, that this is obscene and that it must stop. The issue is no longer whether the perpetrators of a particular murder are brought to court and convicted, although that is important. The issue now is that known gang members must be arrested, charged and imprisoned for criminal activities before they get the opportunity to kill again.

When the IRA and the INLA threatened the security of the State, we acted and defeated the threat. When Ms Veronica Guerin was murdered we acted and defeated the threat. We must now act again and defeat the threat from the drug cartels which threaten the lives and well-being of our youth. The corpus of criminal legislation is not sufficient at present to convict gang members for routine criminal activity. The law must be changed and on several occasions this week I suggested changes which should be considered.

The Government intends to introduce the covert surveillance Bill, which is welcome. While information gathered by the Garda in the course of surveillance may be used to catch criminals, it cannot be used as evidence in court. I hope the proposed Bill will enable information gathered in this way to be used as evidence.

When members of the IRA refused to recognise the courts, the sworn testimony of a chief superintendent of the Garda, claiming a person was a member of the IRA, was a very effective way of putting such people in jail. When the courts gave equal weight to a statement of rebuttal by the accused the measure lost its effectiveness, as the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform stated. A similar provision regarding membership of criminal gangs, enshrined in law, has never been used to prosecute a person in the State, but a redrafted law along similar lines has potential. A redrafted law enabling a senior garda to swear that an individual was involved in the sale and distribution of drugs overcomes the difficulties of defining what constitutes a gang and confusing families with gangs, and all the attendant impossible definitions. However, if the law was changed in this way such information should be admissible as evidence, even when rebutted by the accused. I do not believe such evidence should be sufficient to convict on its own, but if corroborated by further evidence, it should be sufficient to convict. Will the Minister explore this possibility?

The House learned, following the murder of Ms Veronica Guerin, that it was possible to introduce legislation overnight which had been considered impossible until then. What had been impossible for years was made possible in just 48 hours. The Criminal Assets Bureau legislation resulted from such an instance and it is one of the most effective tools to deal with criminals. For years, the legal advice was such measures were not possible for constitutional reasons.

These events require an immediate response because we have reached a watershed and people expect a response. The procedures governing the Garda interrogation of suspects should be amended also. Gang members are instructed on how to resist questioning. At interview, they put their heads down and pretend to go sleep. It is their rest period. Longer interrogation periods should be allowed and a video recording of interrogation should be sufficient. At present there is a requirement to support the video recording by a written question and answer record of the interrogation. When a garda stops to write down the questions and answers, the flow of the interrogation ceases and the accused, well trained in these matters, has the opportunity to make another facile excuse, or not answer at all.

As always, the fight against crime must be led by the Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform of the day. I urge the Minister to introduce the necessary changes, as his predecessors have done. He should take up the challenge and defeat the threat. If the Minister does so, I have no doubt he will have the unanimous support of the Dáil.

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