Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

The Minister is very narky. I was watching him on television last night and some of the questions were about the time he went off to London, to maintain JMSE, and keep it stum. He came back and said, in effect, that it had been Bertie's decision, not his. He is always so self-exculpatory. He should stay quiet for a minute. I did not interrupt him.

The Minister tells me the Government brought in this 2006 Act and was going to do the devil and all about organised crime. I should like to refer him to the questions from Deputy Charles Flanagan and me on 18 November, when we asked him to detail for us the convictions secured as a result of section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006. He gave us a dissertation on the CSO and told us at the end that he had requested the CSO to tell us the answer. Now here is a man who is Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, professes to be fighting gangland crime and produces this item of legislation as one of his major weapons. Section 72 is specifically on organised crime. We asked a simple question as to whether it had ever been used, was it successful in the event, and how many convictions were there and he said he did not know, but the CSO might and he would direct it to tell us.

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