Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday, in response to the barbaric murder of Gareth Hutch, the latest in a series of callous murders across the capital city, the Taoiseach said initially in his response that he could do nothing to stop the killings. Also, one senior Garda said there was no immediate end in sight. An interpretation of what the Taoiseach was saying essentially is that the State is almost powerless to stop this and turn the tide against the criminal gangs and the drug overlords controlling parts of our city and country.

I put it to the Taoiseach that there is a need for the State to really get into the face of these criminals, assert who is in charge of our country and ensure that crime does not pay. The 2009 legislation is in place and its full implementation is required. It created new offences in terms of directing a criminal organisation and participation in organised crime, invokes the Offences against the State Act and the utilisation of the Special Criminal Court, and depends greatly on intelligence the Garda has built up over time. The Garda and the full armoury of the State need to meet these criminals head on and be constantly in their face in terms of ensuring they do not reign with the apparent ease with which they do at the moment when they can run up and murder people in cold blood and in broad daylight. Therefore, the full implementation of the 2009 Act is called for.

Second, with regard to the proposal for a mini criminal assets bureau, I know that in a recent reply the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Fitzgerald, was careful to avoid any commitment to its establishment and drew a distinction between the new unit profiling people in Store Street and the establishment of locally based criminal asset bureaus that would, again, get in the face of criminals on the ground-----

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