Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)

In respect of what Senator Brady, a Member on the Government side, calls a crisis in regard to crime it was revealed yesterday that a skeleton staff of only three were in the Garda drug squad because most of the squad's members were in court waiting to give evidence. The Minister has said that the sentences handed down by judges are a joke. This is more than a crisis, it is a lack of confidence in the ability of the Minister to do anything other than make a speech that is irrelevant to the crisis on hand. This raises serious questions about his commitment to solving the problem rather than to his satisfaction rating in the polls.