Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

Let me give the Minister the example of the €7.6 million taken in a recent robbery of this type in a Dublin bank. How did an employee, admittedly one operating under duress, have such easy access to retrieve the amount of money handed over? The robbery was followed by press statements or behind the scenes briefings by the Garda that a great deal of the money was recovered. I understand only a limited amount was recovered. While it is all very well for the Minister to state that protocols are not being complied with in some cases, is he satisfied that the content of the protocols is adequate to meet this modern day scourge?

I concur with the Minister that the safety of bank officials and their families must come first. Since he failed to comment on my earlier remark, I repeat that the only reasonable conclusion one can draw is that these robberies are carried out for the purpose of funding and financing more serious crime and the trafficking of drugs into this jurisdiction.

See this speech in context