Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)

The Minister has his head in the sand. My Bill has shortcomings in it and I would be the first to admit that. It was sent in last November and it only reached the floor here in March, so there was plenty of time for him and his officials to look over it and advise me in whatever way possible. The fact is that homes and precious buildings are being plundered. The Minister had a taste of that when he was abroad, so he knows what it is like. I do not wish that to happen to anybody, because it is a terrible intrusion on people's privacy.

Going to committees, sending reports and listening to what the Garda Commissioner says is one thing, but I am meeting senior officers up and down the country who are saying something different. They know the facts. I would be the last person to call for more punitive legislation to affect small businesses, but we have to regularise the situation. Jewellers are dealing with this for years, and rightly so, but they have a code of practice and I was not talking about them, nor was I referring to cash for gold solely. I was talking about precious metals that have been taken from farms, historic buildings and everywhere else. If somebody is telling me that burglaries have only increased by 2%, then the Minister must be living in Londonderry.

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