Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

Unlike previous speakers, I blame the Government rather than this House for the lack of legislation before us. It is the Government's job to bring forward legislation. I ask the Leader whether the Government plans to amend the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924 in light of the Green Party's targeting of civil servants.

I join others in condemning the killing of innocent Shane Geoghegan in Limerick. I support Senator Harris in calling for a debate on our penal system because prison must mean prison. We can no longer allow criminal warlords to organise their troops from inside jails. According to media reports, mobile telephones, Internet scams, bazookas and all sorts of things are being ordered or arranged from within prisons. It is time that we held a proper debate on what prison means in this country and we have to send a strong message to thugs whose only interest is self-preservation. They do not care about ordinary human beings who do not deal in drugs or intimidate witnesses and jurors. We have to get serious. We have had 11 years of successive Ministers for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. When are we going to see reforms that stand on the side of ordinary people by ensuring violence and murder bring life imprisonment without parole? Today in Limerick, a young family is bereaved. This is not a statistic. Have we become immune to this? I call for a debate on civil liberties because I want this House to send a message to the thugs that their time is up and we are going to get them. I do not care if it is unparliamentary or not politically correct to say this but the murders have to be stopped.