Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)

I support what has been said by Senator Dardis. We have consistently linked the growth in criminality with drugs. Human life is no longer sacred, particularly in our urban areas. We have recently seen a big increase in the shootings of criminals. We must compliment the Garda, which is an unarmed force whose members consistently put their own lives at risk. The Minister recently allocated more than €6 million to Operation Anvil to try to tackle the problem and the incident in Lusk is a good example of tackling it. While we all regret the loss of human life, people who use pistols and other dangerous weaponry on an indiscriminate basis run the attendant risk of others being armed. This incident has resonated with people, which is why they have empathised with the Garda on radio phone-in programmes. The people are sick and tired of the level of criminality in the country and want it to be rooted out. We must show solidarity with the Garda in this situation.