Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

I congratulate my colleague, Deputy Charlie Flanagan, for bringing this issue before the House. It is timely that we discuss the matter. I came to the conclusion a long time ago that crime is a growth industry in the country at present. It is prospering all the time. It is becoming more beneficial to be a member of a crime gang than any other industry. The procedures we have to tackle the situation at present are laughable. For example, there is no difficulty in people who are out on bail for serious crimes committing further serious crimes and being granted bail again. In God's name, what are we at? Does the Minister not realise what is happening in this country? Surely he or someone in his Department should be able to take some initiative. Somebody must be able to do something. Why would the gardaí take action? After all, if they bring the criminals before the courts they get out on bail even if they shot somebody or beat them half to death. What do they do next? They do the same thing to somebody else. The Garda must be totally and absolutely brassed off at attempting to enforce the law when the will is not there to do it. I do not want to hear nonsense about a decision of the Supreme Court in 1965 or 1966. That is a long time ago. That was then and this is now. We have to deal with the situation that presents or else society will be under serious threat.

I attended a meeting in Brussels recently which was addressed by the heads of Europol and Eurojust. They said they got their information from the press. They had to go to journalists for information. That indicates the swapping of information between jurisdictions is not what it should be and that points to a serious deficit. Reference has been made previously to legislation but nothing seems to be done about it. There is no serious intent about getting to grips with the criminal fraternity.

The intimidation of witnesses is another problem. We have seen countless instances of that in recent years and it is getting worse. Various timid intentions have been expressed to tackle it but nothing has happened and the problem continues. When a person is charged with a crime and witnesses are interviewed they invariably agree to give evidence but after a couple of weeks they change their minds, say they were wrong or they lied the first time. What is going on? The Minister cannot enforce justice with that kind of situation and he cannot protect society. The Minister is not protecting society. It may not be all the fault of the Minister but he should remember he is in charge now and he must accept responsibility. There is no good in saying he inherited something or referring to his predecessor's predecessor.

The Minister's predecessor but one closed two prisons, Spike Island and the Curragh. We were told at the time there was no necessity for them, that everything was under control. We were told dying wasps were administering stings at the time and we could rest assured that everything was in order. The criminal fraternity is laughing about the Minister, this House, the courts and the people who try to do anything to uphold law and order in the country. That is appalling and a terrible indictment of society and the Government. An event will occur that will crystallise the seriousness of the problem. Gangland crime has been occurring for far too long and the Minister should do something about it before it is too late.

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