Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

I join other Senators in deploring the recent murder in Limerick. It demonstrates that when we can only achieve a conviction in one out of every six murder cases, the current approach does not work. While I would not go as far as some other Senators have suggested, I wonder whether it is time to introduce a witness protection Bill and to put a witness protection scheme on a statutory footing. The Garda introduced a programme ten years ago, but although it is well intentioned, it clearly does not do the job. This is the view of the Court of Criminal Appeal and the Supreme Court has concerns about the programme.

America introduced a witness protection programme in 1970. Since then, 10,000 people have been convicted of crimes. A witness protection programme could work, therefore, if introduced. When we tried to introduce a witness protection Bill last year in this House, the Minister at the time said he and the Garda Commissioner felt it was not appropriate then. Will the Leader ask the Minister to speak to the Garda Commissioner to ascertain if it would be appropriate now?