Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)

No disrespect to the Minister of State but I am really disappointed that nobody from the Department of justice is present. This is a really important issue as my colleague has outlined. I will preface my comments by saying the Government really needs to intervene here. It needs to commit to a fully resourced Garda operation targeting drug dealing and feuding in order that hardworking people in Limerick feel safe and secure in their homes, which some of them do not feel at the moment. Many people are extremely frightened and need to be reassured and made safe in their homes and communities.

The scale of drug dealing in parts of Limerick city is worse than ever. It is off the scale. It is a miracle nobody has been killed in the gang feud that is going on across our city. Gardaí have said that, not me. Too many Limerick communities feel abandoned. In recent weeks we have had shootings and petrol bomb attacks in the Ballinacurra Weston, Southill, Garryowen, Thomondgate and King's Island areas of our great city. Recently, I wrote to both the Garda Commissioner and the Minister for justice seeking additional resources for the Garda in Limerick. These resources are needed to combat the ongoing sale of drugs, especially crack cocaine, and gang feuding across Limerick. Hardworking families, pensioners and children living in these communities deserve to live securely in their homes without the presence of drug gangs operating openly and arrogantly. The sale of crack cocaine is pure evil. It has a devastating impact not only on the drug users but on their families and the wider community. Crack cocaine, one of the most destructive and addictive drugs, is peddled to the most desperate of our citizens. There are reports of children selling crack cocaine and I am on the public record as saying that previously. There are several criminal gangs in our city that cause mayhem and destroy lives. They often act like they own the areas. They think they do.

Previous Garda operations in Limerick such as Operation Capóg and others, when resourced, have been successful but when the resources are removed, the criminality returns even worse. We cannot allow crime to spread and we cannot allow these gangs to drag more young people into this. Often, the communities I have talked about have been plagued by criminal gangs who seem to operate without sanction. They feel they are untouchable. These communities see little or no Garda response across Limerick. Many communities have long been left without a community Garda. We must enhance community safety by implementing a comprehensive method to address crime and support local policing efforts. The gardaí in Limerick are well led and when they have sufficient Garda numbers and adequate resources, they can keep all of our communities safe. That is a task of Government and it needs to deliver the resources our gardaí need.

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