Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I made an error in my earlier reply. The commitment made at Weston Park in 2001 was, of course, made by former the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and not David Cameron, one of those who succeeded him. The position of the Government is the same. The United Kingdom Government made a commitment in 2001 at Weston Park to carry out a public inquiry under the Inquiries Act into the death of Pat Finucane. The Supreme Court decision shows that the reviews carried out to date were not compliant with that commitment and it is our strong view that the commitment should now be honoured by the British Government and we will be pressing it to do so.

I am obviously aware of the incidents that have taken place in recent days - the shootings at the M1 retail park in Drogheda, in Corduff in my constituency and in Coolock in Deputy Broughan's constituency. The Government is working with the Garda to improve its resources and capabilities to deal with all forms of crime, particularly violent crime. For many years, there was little or no investment in the Garda as a consequence of the recession this country experienced. In the past three years, however, we have been investing in the force again. The number of gardaí has been increased to over 14,000, the largest in a very long time. There are more civilians involved in the organisation, which frees up gardaí to carry out front-line policing work, and there is real investment in new Garda stations throughout the country. There has also been investment in IT and vehicles. Such investment will continue.

Where new or refurbished Garda stations are located is something that has to be worked on by An Garda Síochána, the OPW and the Department of Justice and Equality. It depends on the availability of sites and other operational matters and it is best done in that way.

The Garda has made some important progress in tackling the insidious threat of organised crime and there is ongoing contact between the Department of Justice and Equality and An Garda Síochána to ensure that a successful and proactive approach is taken. Deputies are aware that a number of arrests have recently been made in the United Kingdom on foot of investigations into the supply of drugs and firearms in Ireland and the United Kingdom. These arrests resulted in several court appearances, while others who were arrested and released are under investigation. These investigations are being led by the UK National Crime Agency and supported by the Garda and the UK police. I acknowledge the co-operation between the two forces and commend those involved in the operation.

I also note the work of An Garda Síochána in securing a number of convictions in the Gareth Hutch murder case over the course of the year. The House is aware that Operation Hybrid was established to co-ordinate the response to violent crime in Dublin and to alleviate concerns about community safety, particularly in the inner city and on the northside, where there is significant support from armed support units.

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