Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

What did Deputy Ó Cuív say last night when asked about the question of gangland crime, and especially the problems in Limerick? He said, "The biggest blight in this country is bad planning". This was from a Fianna Fáil Minister, and it is almost beyond belief. Who is the cause of the sprawling housing estates we have built? Then he went on to say his solution was that he would seal off the coastline. This is the type of nonsense that has us in the situation we are in.

I should like to have a great deal more time to address this. Up to now the main focus as regards gangland killing has been the reform of the legislation and what new law might be brought forward. Of course, ongoing reform of the law is desirable and updating the criminal law is necessary. For example, in certain circumstances there are priorities we might address and top of the list should be the covert surveillance Bill, but not in the terms as published today by the Minister — without the Minister getting carried away about the little paragraph on FOI. If FOI upsets him that much I shall withdraw it.

The Labour Party Bill is a superior Bill. The law should be changed, as Deputy Connick has suggested, to allow evidence to be admitted where there is a technical breach of rights. The witness protection programme should be put on a statutory footing and the strengthening of the powers of the DPP is necessary to include appeals against acquittals on the direction of a judge. Apart entirely from a number of legislative measures, which if I had time I could deal with, the other main limb of the fight back against the crime bosses is the enforcement of the extensive laws we have.

The Minister made a fair point the last day when he said we cannot legislate away the need for evidence, and I accept that. However, when we look at the record, the performance in respect of gun murders, for example, is very poor. Some 22 convictions were secured in circumstances where there were 161 gun murders in the last decade. That figure has mysteriously dropped to 159, I notice, in the reply to the most recent parliamentary question in this regard. I do not know how that happened, but we shall leave that aside. We ask a good deal from the gardaí at the coalface, who confront ruthless gangsters who observe none of the rules of civilised society. It is the task of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform of the day to ensure Garda resources are adequate and are most productively deployed. It is not apparent that the management of Garda resources, generally, is as efficient or as effective as it might be. Nor is it apparent that all the proposed reform of the Garda Síochána has brought about, in practice, very much change. In reality there appears to be little commitment to genuine community policing. Residents in huge tracts of urban Ireland are unhappy that gardaí are rarely visible in their neighbourhoods. A senior lawyer claimed last night on television that 12 drug pushers operate with impunity adjacent to the Four Courts and near municipal headquarters. Those of us who support the Garda are concerned at the frequency with which we hear that type of claim, while relatively harmless conduct by teenagers kicking their heels is the subject of garda caution. All of us who support the Garda will have been dispirited by the dismissive manner adopted towards the Morris tribunal in a recent editorial in the magazine of the Garda Representative Association.

There is a lot of noise coming from this Government about the Taoiseach's priority of implementing public sector reform. No institution of the State should be outside the remit of such reform. The time has come to end the practice whereby Garda appointments above the rank of inspector are made directly by Government. Senior appointments elsewhere throughout the public service are made by independent appointments commissions. In the new dispensation it is important that senior Garda appointments be taken out of the domain of party politics. This single decision would give more impetus to the dynamic for genuine change than any reforms to date which have met with mixed success.

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