Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Healy and the Technical Group for giving me some of their speaking time to speak on this very important Bill. Despite the fact that he is not listening, I take this opportunity to acknowledge the Minister's work in this regard and thank him and his officials for the excellent work they have done in producing this Bill. It is wanted and needed and will be beneficial to the Garda. The positive implications of it include the establishment of a DNA database and the potential to investigate and solve crimes and establish the innocence of those who are wrongly accused of crimes. It is a very worthwhile Bill. I have studied it and appreciate every bit of it. I believe that in times to come, people will look back on the Minister and the people who worked with him and say that this was a very worthwhile document and piece of work.

When we are dealing with a Bill such at this, and I know the Leas-Cheann Comhairle will appreciate this, we must look at everything in conjunction and tie it all up. What we are doing here is solving crimes. We are trying to establish guilt and innocence where they obtain. To do all of this, one needs a knowledge of policing and what An Garda Síochána does every day, be it at superintendent, detective, Garda sergeant or rank and file Garda level. From a garda who might be on patrol in Dublin or some part of rural west Cork or south Kerry, one must encompass the whole thing and look at it as a collective picture of trying to fight crime. Unfortunately, this Minister, perhaps more than many others, is faced with the terribly difficult task of dealing with criminals who are highly resourced and imaginative and who have every facility at their disposal. That is why now more than ever before, An Garda Síochána has a really tough and difficult time.

I am very sorry, Minister, but it is like talking to a wall. It is a very difficult thing to talk to a Minister when he is on his mobile telephone, which he was when my colleagues were speaking previously. It is very hard to talk to a person who is not listening.

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