Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)

The tragic death of Shane Geoghegan and other tragedies should remind us all just how urgent it is to fight gangs in Limerick and across Ireland. While Limerick was unfortunately in the headlines this week, I woke up last Christmas morning only to hear of a murder in one end of my constituency and a serious assault just down the road from me. This is happening all over Ireland. It is most important that we commit immediately to being tough on crime and its causes. Crime is caused by individuals who decide of their own free will to kill, maim and break the law. We must be as tough as possible on them.

We must ask the public outside Limerick, who are not directly affected by the recent tragedy, for their views. I want them to ring my office to complain about what is being done about crime. Nobody has contacted my office this week on this issue. It is far more important than any other we have dealt with in recent weeks. No radio station has asked its listeners to e-mail Oireachtas Members about this issue although it is the most important one we have dealt with in the House since the summer. It is very serious and the public outside the Limerick region will have to come on board to fight the gangs. As Deputy O'Connor stated, the people who are smoking hash and taking cocaine, although they may regard it as a laugh and great fun, are the ones who are funding the criminals who are willingly murdering, maiming and injuring people and on whom we need to be as tough as possible.

We need to give the Garda all the resources it needs. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Taoiseach have indicated they will do whatever must be done in Limerick. I am glad of this but they also need to do whatever must be done all over the country. Garda strength is increasing this year and there is to be a new state-of-the-art forensic science facility and a new communications system, a digital radio service. In my constituency, the commitment of the former Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Brian Lenihan, and the current one, Deputy Dermot Ahern, has been second to none. Garda numbers have perhaps trebled in the past year at my local station in Laytown. There is a renewed commitment to policing in east Meath.

My area of the commuter belt has its own share of criminal gangs. Their members have moved out of the north side of Dublin. They are not all travelling up and down to Dublin to work but may travel up and down by night to carry out robberies. There are three or four families in my constituency who are known to be engaged in this practice and I want the Garda to be tough on them.

Operation Anvil, for which €21 million was allocated this year, is often applied in my constituency by the Garda. It results in extra checkpoints, one of which I passed today on my way to Navan. There will be more uniformed foot patrols, where necessary, and armed plain-clothes patrols. They are needed so we can be tough on the causes of crime and those who are willingly and freely committing crimes, killing, maiming and injuring.

We need to pass legislation. We are to do so and I welcome the legislation the Government has initiated. One hears the human-rights brigade and political-correctness brigade saying we must be wary of moral panic, but we must also be wary of moral failure. It would constitute moral failure not to introduce the legislation and I commend the Government on reacting as it has.

In the past, we have strengthened bail requirements, created mandatory sentences and toughened penalties for crime. As colleagues have stated, judges must play their part in this regard. There is still work to do. The Government has announced the covert surveillance Bill, which is important because it will create a nationwide DNA database to assist criminal investigations. It will help stop gangs from intimidating witnesses and committing perjury during trials, as happens all the time. By taking such steps, we are helping the Garda to be as effective as possible in targeting the individuals who are willingly committing crimes.

The Government has been consistently tough on crime. I refer to Ministers for Justice, Equality and Law Reform from Deputy O'Donoghue onwards. I was only in college when Deputy O'Donoghue was Minister. Fianna Fáil Members have been steadfast in support of the Garda. Others have not always been as steadfast in doing so. We have supported the Garda through thick and thin and I will support every decision any member of the Garda makes in my constituency. It is important that this message be circulated.

We need to continue to assist gardaí by giving them all the resources and legislative tools they need to fight gangland crime. I commend the Opposition for raising this issue this week. It could have raised budgetary issues to oppose the Government or give it a kick but it raised the issue of gangland crime, which was very responsible. This is a great debate and we are generally working across the aisle on these issues. I know the Opposition will support us when necessary.

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