John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. I am speaking on behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality who is unable to be present owing to other business. The Minister shares the widespread outrage at the type of criminality to which the Deputy refers and fully appreciates the concerns of communities who find this violence taking place on their streets. The brutal nature of these crimes is a stark reminder to us of the mentality of those involved in organised criminality and the danger they pose to society.

The Minister is in ongoing contact with the Garda Commissioner about all aspects of serious crime, and the Garda will continue to bear down heavily on the activities of those involved in gangland crime. The only effective way to combat organised crime is by disrupting and prosecuting those involved in its operations, especially the drugs trade which is at the heart of much of its profits. Extensive Garda operations have been launched against gangs and significant drug seizures made in recent months and weeks. These have included a major programme of more than 200 searches which were carried out nationwide under Operation Wireless, resulting in the seizure of a substantial amount of drugs and more than 100 arrests. Overall, An Garda Síochána seized drugs of an estimated value of €65.5 million in 2011, with drugs seizures estimated at €90.4 million for the first nine months of this year.

The Garda is also determined, in co-operation with colleagues in the PSNI, to continue to tackle robustly the activities of so called dissident republicans. It is clear that some of these groups have inextricable links with organised crime.

It is worth noting that the most recent recorded crime statistics, which were released at the end of September, show that crime levels in most categories are falling, which reflects well on the work of An Garda Síochána. For the 12-month period until the end of June, murder decreased by 8% and assault offences declined by 9.7%.

We should not underestimate the difficulties the Garda faces in trying to prevent gangland killings and related crimes and bringing the perpetrators to justice. These crimes are carefully planned and carried out by people who are familiar with criminal and forensic investigation techniques. Moreover, despite the clear risk to themselves, members of gangs will not generally co-operate with Garda investigations. The Minister understands that despite these difficulties, the Garda has been able to bring people before the courts, particularly in relation to a number of high profile killings in recent years, although it will be some time before these cases are disposed of.

As Deputies will be aware, the prompt action of gardaí resulted in the arrest of a man close to the scene of the horrific killing in Killester this week. The House will appreciate that because a person is in custody in relation to the killing, it would not be appropriate for me to go into detail about this particular incident.

It would be wrong to characterise this as a budgetary matter. There has been gangland violence for some time in Ireland and the number of murders was higher when Garda numbers were higher than at present. It is also unrealistic to expect the Garda Commissioner to devote his entire resources to protecting individually people who are routinely trying to avoid the Garda in order that they can continue to engage in criminal activity. Such an approach could only come at the expense of ordinary Garda activity to protect the community generally.

Strong anti-gangland legislation is in place. The Minister has made it clear to the Garda Commissioner that if he believes other measures could be taken in this area, he will examine them positively. It would be misleading to suggest, however, that there is some simple legislative solution which would prevent dangerous criminals from trying to kill each other. If that were the case, it would have been enacted years ago.

Furthermore, the Garda Commissioner is leading what he rightly describes as "the most fundamental restructuring of An Garda Síochána" since its foundation. There is a clear imperative to free up gardaí to ensure they are available for front-line operational purposes, and this is precisely the strategy the Commissioner is pursuing. The Commissioner enjoys the full support of the Government in continuing to confront criminal gangs and in bringing those involved to justice.

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