Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

The Minister's responses are most unsatisfactory. He stated in his speech that the policing priorities for An Garda Síochána had been finalised for 2009. Has he included in that the provision of an assistant Garda commissioner to Limerick with specific responsibility for tackling gangland crime? He spoke about the emergency response unit. That is great, but it is not working 24 hours a day, which is the level of response now required in Limerick. Will he be providing for a properly resourced CAB in Limerick? When will he introduce the blocking of mobile phones in Limerick Prison? He spoke about doing this in Portlaoise but no date was given. Can I take it from what the Minister has said that he is unwilling to legislate specifically to make membership of a criminal gang a criminal offence?

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