Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is fair to say that wherever there is a border between two separate jurisdictions, there will be increased levels of criminal activity. That has been the case historically on this island since the placement of the Border there in the 1920s. Fortunately, as a result of our membership of the European Union and customs union, and in recent years the Single Market, we have been able to overcome many of the disadvantages of having two jurisdictions on the island. I am sure the Minister will be concerned about any proposal that we would put back some form of customs infrastructure on the island, which would simply add to the problem of lawlessness faced in that part of the island.

We need to recognise that greater co-operation is needed between CAB and the National Crime Agency. All crime is fuelled by one primary issue, namely, the desire to accumulate money. Most crimes are driven by that. In the case of the criminal activity on the Border region, there is no doubt it is fuelled by that desire. Perhaps in this part of the jurisdiction we have been too sympathetic to allowing certain entities along the Border to operate as they did previously but we need to be much more forceful in that regard. What is the Minister's view on establishing a joint statutory agency here and in the UK, involving the co-operation of the British authorities? Perhaps he should raise the idea with the British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

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