Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It is on the record. The previous action involved intelligent policing utilising other agencies, not simply armed guards. I have been in the north inner city and have seen those roadblocks. They are there and visible and I think they give comfort to the communities. What is required is intelligent policing, as was deployed, for example, in Limerick and previously in Dublin in the 1990s, using the Criminal Assets Bureau, CAB. Are there any plans to amend legislation on the seizure of assets to ensure that the criminal gangs that have taken the place of previous criminal gangs are put off the streets?

On another issue, we heard yesterday that responsibility for rural broadband would be split between two Departments, the Departments of communications, climate change and natural resources and the Department of regional development, rural affairs, arts and the Gaeltacht. Would the Taoiseach not agree that when this is a national priority, dividing responsibility between two Departments will guarantee that nobody is really accountable and nobody is really driving it? What is the logic of approaching it in that way?

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