Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The proposal to renew the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act is another missed opportunity. Last year we had a review that recommended the repeal of the legislation and its replacement with permanent and modern legislation that would be fit for purpose, but here we are again. Unfortunately, the threat posed by organised crime and violence associated with large-scale drug distribution is not a memory from a distant era but a clear and present danger to our society. Too often it is innocent people who are impacted by these gangs and too often it is our communities that suffer.

Fine Gael has had responsibility for the Department of Justice for the last 13 years and in this time organised crime has spiralled. Fine Gael is soft on crime. Its light-touch approach has seen it slash Garda numbers, shut police stations and abandon communities, some in my constituency of Limerick city. In many cases these criminals can run amok in our communities without fear or consequence. They can intimidate and threaten with near impunity because there is not a sufficient Garda presence. Gardaí cannot respond when they do not actually exist. Crack houses operate 24-7 and often stay open for years.

In recent years the focus has been on Dublin’s inner city and the damage that has been done through the murder and mayhem of gangs, but it is not an exclusively Dublin challenge. In every city and large town in Ireland, the sale and supply of drugs has become big business. People regularly travel to Limerick from across the State to buy crack cocaine. In one area of Limerick people can be seen shooting up outside the local crèche and often in full sight of the children. This has been allowed continue for more than a year. In my county, we have seen at first hand the devastation these gangs caused.

While the murders may grab the headlines, it is lower level intimidation, casual violence and antisocial behaviour of these gangs that does significant damage to community cohesion and trust in the role of the Judiciary. In Limerick we have several estates that lie in close proximity to the city centre. These are communities where a huge majority of people simply want to get on with their lives, do their day’s work, raise their family and enjoy the little comforts life should bring. However, those simple and worldly ambitions are often stymied by the use of scramblers, horses and scooters to rip up soccer pitches and dominate the pedestrian pathways. It is impacted by the casual use of drugs and the sale of drugs on public streets. It is damaged by the discarding of drug paraphernalia on public walkways. To be a parent in these circumstances must be incredibly challenging. Would any of us like our children and family members to have to play in such environments?

These situations have been allowed fester because we do not have enough community gardaí. Gardaí who work within the community and engage with stakeholders are often a deterrent to this kind of low-level but highly-damaging antisocial and anti-community behaviour. Organised crime flourishes and grows in areas of deprivation. Organised crime flourishes in areas abandoned by central government. We have seen it up and down the country.

Fine Gael has been in government for years, as I have said, and there have been Ministers in Fine Gael governments who have hailed from Limerick and yet seven of the top ten areas of deprivation in this State are in Limerick.

The recently published European Drug Report 2024 shows that Ireland now has the highest rate of drug overdose deaths in the EU, with 70 deaths per million compared with the EU average of 23 deaths per million. I met some family members of those lost to drugs outside the Dáil earlier. They all have their own stories. It has been the approach of the Minister for Justice to react and to rarely pre-empt. The steps that could and should have been taken to prevent the growth of organised crime in communities have not been taken.

During its time in office, Fine Gael has cut the number of community gardaí. In our battle against organised crime, community gardaí are vital. They embed themselves in communities and the know the families and youths. Their mere presence in communities is a deterrent to crime and often offers a counterbalance to those who peddle drugs. I am often proud of the job gardaí in Limerick do. They have worked tirelessly to try to curb criminality and have done what they can with the resources they have. However, at the recent joint policing committee meeting, Superintendent Derek Smart stated that the Limerick division needs 30 additional gardaí just to deliver a proper service. This is stark evidence of the huge catch-up we need in Garda numbers to deliver a proper policing service in Limerick and ensure that communities feel safe.

When the Garda has been afforded the necessary resources, such as in the case of Operation Cobalt, with which the Minister was involved, we have seen some fantastic results. They have shut down drug supermarkets and, in conjunction with local officials, destroyed the derelict sites used to store drugs. Limerick communities, particularly those close to the city, need community gardaí. Without them being at the heart of the community, trust can be lost. When a community only sees a garda in their area to make an arrest there can be an us-versus-them division. This is a division that can be avoided. The vacuum that exists allows a few criminal characters to thrive.

The presence of a community garda offers reassurance to older members of communities. Importantly, he or she can serve as a role model for people. This important aspect of policing has been cut and cut again. There were 92 community gardaí in Limerick in 2008. In March of this year, there were 22. How can gardaí get to know the communities they serve when they are not embedded in them? How can we reasonably expect communities to trust community gardaí when they only see them when they are coming to make arrests?

Turning briefly to the courts, partly due to a backlog that was caused by Covid, we have seen a significant gap between the investigation of offences and the prosecution of those offences. Long waiting times for justice serve neither the accused nor the victim well. Access to justice that is delayed is access to justice denied. Ensuring the prompt delivery of justice is important to show affected communities that the justice system works.

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