Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

I acknowledge the points made by the Minister and the success in recent years of Garda activities against organised criminals. Crime of this kind has been going on for a long time and it would appear that in the past ten years there has been an inexorable development in the power, strength and influence of criminal gangs. Does the Minister believe that sufficient modern and adequate resources are available to gardaí so that they can interrupt and intercept the activities of the people who are now so devoted to criminal activity, from which they make such considerable profit, as is recognised nationally and internationally? Have the authorities been frustrated by the power and influence of the criminal gangs in such a way as to make it easier for them to operate and more difficult for the authorities to combat their activity?

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