Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I thank Deputy Upton for sharing her time with me. As the Leas-Cheann Comhairle knows, these motions arise on a regular basis. The situation seems to be deteriorating constantly. This year opened with a spate of gangland murders, as did 2009. It is no longer strange. It is par for the course, something we have come to expect. Only six years ago the then Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Michael McDowell, told the House after one such murder that he had gangland killings well under control and that the murder in question was "the sting of a dying wasp". Presumably, he intended it to be the last murder, but we now see where we have been led.

The present Minister's response to the motion is more or less the same, in that it is self-serving and self-congratulatory. There is little else in it. Meanwhile, gangland crime is going from strength to strength and spreading its tentacles across the country. The former Minister did not face up to reality and the current Minister, Deputy Dermot Ahern, does not seem to be able to face up to it either.

Gun crime and drugs are the hallmarks of the modern gangland criminal. The proliferation of illegal drugs in every county started 30 years ago and has laid the groundwork for an industry valued at €1 billion, one of the most lucrative in these times of economic recession. It is constantly growing. The fact that we are an island nation with endless points of entry and inadequate checks and surveillance makes Ireland a smuggler's paradise. Smugglers are enjoying it. That ruthless drug barons can police their illegal operations with illegal weapons and murder whoever gets in their way with virtual impunity and no fear of conviction is bringing law and order into disrepute. The fact that drug barons can control their illegal businesses from prisons and abroad and even order hits is almost beyond belief in a democratic and civilised society.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that Irish law enforcement is not keeping up with Irish criminal innovation. This is a major part of the problem. While the Garda is devising and implementing micromanagement through its annual policing plans, there does not appear to be any long-term planning to devise strategies for dealing with drugs and gun crimes, the hallmarks of serious criminal activity. Consequently, the 1980s saw a heroin epidemic. It became an epidemic of cocaine in the 1990s and crack cocaine and tablets in the 2000s, with heroin remaining on and spreading throughout the country. In 2010, we have another dreadful epidemic, this time of head shops, which sell products containing lethal ingredients that mimic illegal drug substances such as cocaine and LSD. Head shops are spreading like wildfire, but the Government is doing nothing about them. Every few years, mind-altering substances appear on the market or black market and enjoy the space to flourish before law enforcement kicks in. This is a serious part of the problem.

All of these guns and drugs are imported from abroad. Clearly, cross-Border security and police co-operation are ineffective. We must take certain actions. For example, we must put together a package of proposals to comprise the issues referred to by Deputy Upton, including urban blight, regeneration, education, training, housing and employment. That last issue would form a major part of the package and emphasis should be placed on it, but the Government is not doing so. A comprehensive strategy to deal with existing drug crime is also required. Surveillance and scanning equipment are needed at airports and sea ports. The equipment should be upgraded and personnel increased to deal with it. Maritime and cross-Border co-operation between the EU and Ireland is not up to scratch. The Lisbon treaty makes new provisions for such co-operation and I would like them to be implemented immediately.

More than anything else, a special task force to monitor and tackle any new drugs that arrive on the scene before they have time to become established and spread widely is required. For the past 12 months, we have seen the inevitable onset of head shop-type drugs, but nothing has been done. Overnight, we could use a statutory instrument to declare the worst of the ingredients — methadrone — illegal, which would mean that many of the shops would need to close. We could work on enforcing consumer legislation. We could ban sales to minors before moving on to licensing and planning.

Gangland crime has carved out a niche in Irish life and is here to stay unless radical measures are taken.

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