Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister has dealt with my first two points. Obviously, we need to see greater use of the Criminal Assets Bureau, CAB. Locally, I have seen how it does fabulous work. It also means communities can see that action is being taken and we also need to see policing operations. Unfortunately, we are dealing with a large number of street drug dealers, and there is also the fact that the courts can be backlogged. This means it can be a considerable amount of time before somebody is actually processed and that lesson has not been learned fast enough. We need to do everything we can regarding the Greentown project to remove people from criminality. We also know there is a huge number of chaotic families and, at times, useful idiots, who can be used by predatory drug dealers. We need to give greater powers to councils. We need to make sure Tusla and everyone else is involved in the actions that can be taken. There is a major issue with dangerous organised criminals. Huge issues are also caused by chaotic people who get caught up in this and who cause serious harm to their communities. I have spoken before about how we need to support the likes of the Family Addiction Support Network and others in Dundalk, which are doing great work.

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