Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Gabhaim buíochas le Páirtí an Lucht Oibre as an deis a thabhairt dom labhairt ar an rún ríthábhachtach seo, agus ar an leasú ón Rialtas go háirithe. Gabhaim comhbhróm le clann Kenneth Fetherston, a fuarthas a chorp i sléibhte Bhaile Átha Cliath inné in uaigh uaigneach. I also extend my condolences to others who have been visited by the gangland killings since the beginning of this year. There have been five killings since January: John Paul Joyce, Paddy Mooney, Brendan Molyneux, Noel Deans and Gerard Stanton. Our thoughts are with the families and the communities who have witnessed and have been traumatised by these killings. There will be very few tears shed for some of them but this does not alter the fact that these gangland killings are becoming all too commonplace. All such killings must be condemned. They brutalise society and the communities in which they happen. They undermine the fabric of our communities and the justice system which is the key aspect of this problem.

It is a pity the Government does not understand the underlying sentiment of the Fine Gael motion tabled by Deputy Charles Flanagan and accept there has been a total failure in the past number of years to fully address the problems. I am in agreement with some of the Fine Gael proposals and there is nothing major in this motion that is objectionable. However, the Government amendment to the motion is disgraceful and self-congratulatory. It seeks in its tone to deny the real facts which are that gangland killings are on the increase. There have been five killings in one month. The Garda Síochána has exceeded its target on the capture of drugs - which is to be welcomed. I have gone out of my way to welcome this success and I have encouraged Minister after Minister to do more because the wealth to be achieved in the drugs trade is what underlies gangland killings and the gangland drugs trade. If the drugs trade is tackled head-on properly, then the Government will deliver.

I hope the Garda will continue to exceed it but perhaps the target was too low and the scale of the problem may have been under-estimated. The figures released by the Central Statistics Office last week showed a drop of 19% in those charged with drugs-related offences but this does not give the scale of the success of the Garda Síochána in terms of the weight of drugs it has captured. From what I can see in my constituency, one of the areas hardest hit by the drugs trade, there is availability of all types of drugs, not only illegal drugs but now what is available in the head shops. This is a debate for another day and I welcome the Minister's approach that he will tackle the problem. I hope the House will have an opportunity to debate the issue and we will come up with imaginative proposals. I do not believe the blame lies solely in this country. Ireland is a member of the European Union and that means an open market. I urge the Minister to talk to his European counterparts and to block this material getting into the European Union in the first place. If they cannot be prevented from coming from one country in particular - New Zealand - by means of trade agreements, then what is the use of the European Union and our trade agreements to date?

The Government amendment to the motion congratulates the successes of the Criminal Assets Bureau. I agree the CAB arrived in a fanfare of publicity and has been quite successful. However, it has not been successful on the ground because at a low and medium level the criminal fraternity is still lording it. Its members have the best cars and houses, they can have parties and six or seven foreign holidays a year and they are not being tackled. This is where communities are frustrated and they are demanding action. Some areas do not have confidence in the Garda Síochána. This is due to a breakdown in confidence over a period of time and also because the Garda Síochana is not properly resourced. Ten years after it was first discussed, the Tetris system has not been rolled out across the country and it is still being piloted. It is ridiculous in this day and age that the Garda Síochána does not have a secure digital network. Some of the offices do not even have e-mails and the opening hours do not give full access to the public.

The report of the Garda Síochána Inspectorate was referred to. Ms Kathleen O'Toole was damning in terms of the management of the Garda Síochána. It is hoped the Garda Commissioner and the Minister will listen to her proposals. I met her a number of years ago and this is what she was talking about at that stage, the management of resources. She now believes that the Garda management does not know exactly where the resources are allocated. One of the examples is the need for an urgent roll-out of civilianisation. The Garda Síochána members are fully trained as crime fighters, having been trained for two years, yet they are stuck behind desks filling out forms. I refer to Blanchardstown Garda Station which was mentioned in Ms O'Toole's report and where 60 forms are filled out by gardaí which could be filled out by anyone such as any civil servant or any other staff members in other State agencies.

I wrote to the Garda Síochána recently regarding a court warrant that needed to be executed in a family law case. The person who wanted it executed was informed it would take a year to be executed against a person living in a house. It was not the case that the person was on the run. These are simple problems but if we do not deal with the simple problems then the gardaí will not be released to work on the streets nor will there be more community gardaí. If there are more community gardaí then there will be more information coming through and communities will start to have confidence in the Garda Síochána.

Community gardaí have done tremendous work with scant resources and the change of attitude that has taken place within the force is welcome. Information is garnered through the work done by PC Plod walking the beat and engaging with people. That type of engagement will deliver the information that is needed. The Government's amendment "notes the difficulties for An Garda Síochána in obtaining evidence in shootings which are the result of gangland activities". That type of evidence will be obtained with far greater ease if adequate resources are in place to assist community gardaí.

The Fine Gael motion proposes the introduction of full body scanners in prisons. It is worth noting in this context that there are only two scanners for trucks in the country. Such scanners should be installed at every port, in addition to increased use of sniffer dogs, in order to intercept drugs shipments.

See this speech in context