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

The Deputy will be aware that the Kinahan gang no longer operates from Ireland but from the United Arab Emirates. That is one example of the success the Garda has had in getting some of these gangs out of the country altogether. To answer the Deputy's question, I do not think anyone needed a Europol report to understand the scale of the problem of drug-related organised crime we face across Europe, including in Ireland. We need only look at the response we have seen in recent years. The Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, GNDOCB, established in 2015, is an Irish equivalent of the FBI and did not exist previously. Armed support units are now available in every Garda region, which was not previously the case. There are record resources for the Garda, the budget for next year being almost €1.9 billion. The strength of the force is above 14,000 for the first time in a very long time, with 200 more joining this Friday. This is having an effect. I mentioned earlier the amount of drugs and the firearms that have been seized as well as the seizure of cash believed to be the proceeds of crime. While there have been a number of murders that have caused enormous concern in recent weeks, we should not forget the fact that homicide offences are down 40% quarter on quarter and murders down 25% year on year. This is proof positive of the success the Garda is having in tackling the most grievous form of crime, which is murder related to organised crime.

We would be very happy to engage with Deputy Curran on his Bill. The last note I saw on it indicated that it contained some flaws which may not have been intended but which may result in the criminalisation of children, and that is not part of the solution. We are, however, absolutely happy to engage with Deputy Curran on the Bill and fast-track it if it is good law. I do not think anyone would want to fast-track bad law, but if we can make good law we will.

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