Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

It is a truism that if gardaí are to hope to have a fighting chance in tackling gangsters, they must, like their opponents, be equipped with top of the range technology.

Last night, the Minister congratulated himself on allocating resources to the State forensic laboratory. However, he did not mention how many of Professor Kopp's recommendations have yet to be implemented. Professor Kopp was another professional from outside Ireland who was aghast at the prehistoric services that exist here, in this case in the field of forensics.

The Minister congratulated himself on the fact that mobile telephones were being seized in prisons under his watch. He made no mention of being concerned at the fact that more than 2,000 telephones got into Irish prisons without difficulty in the past 12 months. He further stated, "The pressure we are experiencing on our prison accommodation is in many cases a reflection of those Garda successes". What about the 3,500 people imprisoned last year for failing to pay court-ordered fines, including more than 60 who ignored fines for not having a TV licence? Is it not more accurate to say that those guilty of minor offences are clogging up our prisons while murderers walk free on every street in this city and beyond?

The Minister discounted Fine Gael's proposal for a 25 year minimum mandatory sentence for murder, boasting that no prisoner convicted of such murders has been released early by him or his immediate predecessors. Such a boast fails to recognise that gangland killers are being released without serving appropriate sentences. The Minister will have an opportunity to respond to my following point tomorrow during Question Time. This week, a prisoner — I am reluctant to name names but last night the Minister stated that sentences were being served for gangland convictions — Paul Coffey, the only man to be charged in connection with the murder in 2000 that ignited the vicious feud between the Keane and Ryan criminal gangs in Limerick, was freed from prison. He was sentenced to 15 years, seven of which were suspended. The murder for which Paul Coffey was convicted arose from a dispute about drug dealing and has resulted in 20 subsequent gangland murders in Limerick. Paul Coffey is out of prison after a pitifully short sentence which underlines what we stated last night and reflects the status quo that the Minister tried to defend.

Fine Gael does not claim to have all the solutions to the gangland crime crisis. Our role as the Opposition is to highlight Government failings and to propose solutions. That is what this debate is about. There are a number of steps which, if taken, would assist greatly in tipping the balance in favour of the State and victims and would recognise what the former Minister for Justice, Deputy Michael Noonan, rightly refers to as the constitutional provision which underscores that the fundamental duty of the Government, State and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is the protection of its citizens.

There are deficiencies which must be addressed, the most obvious of which relates to point raised by the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, on the non-existent customs presence at many small airports throughout the State. They are unlicensed airstrips, which are not policed and do not have any form of customs presence, which receive international flights from other jurisdictions. The absence of a permanent container scanner at all sea ports and the absence of sufficient patrol boats to police the coast are other huge deficiencies that need to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

I believe a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years needs to attach to gangland killings. A few years behind bars having the good life with a flat screen plasma TV, a mobile telephone, a ready supply of drugs and, in one instance, even a pet budgie, is not a sufficient deterrent. For criminal gangsters, life is cheap and the State is not disproving their theory by failing to attach sufficient sanctions to cold-blooded gangland murders.

We require a range of measures which address deficiencies at the point of entry to our prisons, including full body scanners. It is not acceptable that contraband, particularly mobile phones in a gangland context, can easily flow into prisons. I am reluctant to name names in the House but it is worth naming Brian Rattigan, a senior gang boss who was found with a mobile telephone in prison. This undermines the entire system.

All senior Garda vacancies need to be filled immediately. Criminals are not taking a sabbatical while the Minister fumbles to get his house in order.

A glance at the location of gangland killings shows consistent patterns which reflect the geographic areas in which gangs operate. Large numbers of community gardaí need to be allocated to these areas to gather intelligence and win the trust and confidence of the majority of law abiding people. Fine Gael has a policy on community policing which proposes a range of incentives to make it an attractive option for gardaí and a worthwhile proposition for the Garda Commissioner.

Contrary to the Minister's contention, this motion is not opportunistic. What sort of parliamentarians would we be if five gangland murders in the first three weeks of the year did not ignite debate in this House? Quite simply, we would be failing in our duty as public representatives. Communities throughout the State are being ravaged by drugs. In some estates, there is constant fear of another killing. People in these communities are rightly fearful as the list of innocent victims of gangland crime lengthens. We in Fine Gael do not claim to have all the answers but we are willing to put our cards on the table and make proposals that we believe can form part of a solution to the horrific carnage inflicted by criminal gangs on communities in this State.

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