Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

I want to follow up on what Senator Fitzgerald said about last week's debate on gangland crime. As Senator Fitzgerald said, the Minister, Deputy Brian Lenihan, displayed no sense of urgency about this problem. He did not suggest any new legislation or the provision of additional resources, and there was nothing from him regarding a change in policing methods. He described the motion as tendentious and opportunistic, yet in the Dáil debate this week the Taoiseach proposed making greater use of the Special Criminal Court.

In the absence of any clarity or precision on any such proposal by the Minister a week earlier, is there any substance to the Taoiseach's suggestion or is it merely words to suggest we are doing something about the situation? He said that if criminal gangs continue to operate and do the things they are doing, we will have to do something about it. That does not appear to constitute a policy or new innovation. It is easy to criticise the courts for not convicting people but the reality is that the detection rates for these types of crimes have plummeted. These gangs believe they cannot be caught. It is a question of the detection and prosecution of people for these crimes. It is very easy for the Government to criticise the courts and suggest that they are failing in this matter.

I support Senator O'Toole's comments about the Schengen Agreement. I do not wish to revisit the matter but when we discussed the opt-out on criminal law in the European Union one of the issues was that we had to protect the common travel area. One week later, we now know that it will be discontinued in two years' time. It is important to have a debate on the Schengen Agreement and on these opt-outs to see where we are going and identify Government policy on the matter.