Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

One of the things that is wrong in the House is that the Minister cannot comment on the matter. Everybody else is doing so.

This appears to be a very strange case. The normal circumstances that apply are such that when one applies for a road haulier's licence to the Department of Transport, the Department asks the Garda for what is essentially a character reference. The applications are lodged by the applicants themselves. They are not required to state everything about their lives. The unusual point in the case in question is that when the Garda responded to the Department, it was able to point out a number of indiscretions and convictions for charges that applied in England, where the applicant was located. It is clear the information was on the Garda file. Why was no reference made to the fact that the applicant was convicted for the possession of cannabis and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment? Why was this not in the reference for the Department of Transport, bearing in mind the stipulation that one be of good repute?

Irrespective of the fact that the case is now being reviewed, the Taoiseach is only too well aware of the implications of the trafficking of vast quantities of drugs into this country and of gangland warfare, which arises as a consequence. He is aware of the money that accrues from trafficking drugs, the havoc drugs cause among the young and of the tragedies that happen every day. Given the factual information that is now in the public domain, which is on record here and in Britain, does the Taoiseach consider the applicant in question to be of good repute?

Despite the fact that the Minister for Transport has asked the Attorney General to review the file, is it not entirely within the regulations of the Department of Transport and a Government principle that the law apply and be seen to apply to everybody, as Deputy Flanagan pointed out on numerous occasions? Is it not possible for that law to be seen to apply across the board, with this licence revoked forthwith, and for the Taoiseach to state that convicted drug traffickers are not persons of good repute and are not entitled to road hauliers' licences? The Taoiseach should say that now and let us get on with it. It is a strange case.

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