Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

In that regard, the recent murder is a watershed as far as the country, including Limerick, is concerned.

I do not know the Minister's views on charging criminals. The Special Criminal Court has been used in cases such as that in Limerick because one cannot get people to give evidence as they are terrified that their doing so will compromise their safety and well-being. The Special Criminal Court has been used, certainly in Dublin, in cases where witnesses have been threatened and in respect of which juries could not be sworn in. The life of anyone who becomes a member of a jury in a case involving one of the crime gang families is immediately in jeopardy and he or she must be protected. Such a risk could not be taken in respect of a member of a jury or his or her family. This is why the action taken by the Minister in conjunction with the Taoiseach and his other Cabinet colleagues will receive tremendous support from people throughout the country. This is an opportunity to clamp down on what is occurring in Limerick, parts of Dublin and other areas. The root of most of the problems is the use and abuse of drugs. The use of drugs by middle income people fuels the demand, especially for cocaine. Dealing such drugs leads to fights between the gangs which operate in cities at present.

Again, I praise the work of the Garda Síochána and Customs and Excise personnel for the enormous haul of drugs last week off the coast of Cork. It is not the first time this has happened. It was a huge amount, estimated as being worth €750 million, with a street value of as much as €1 billion. It was destined for the United Kingdom but some of it may have returned to this country because of access to Britain through Northern Ireland. It is very difficult to control all the borders between the two administrative areas. We directly benefited by the capture.

When the CAB was established people were confident it would be successful but its success has been outstanding. It was put on a statutory basis in October 1996, and to the end of December 2007, interim and final restraint orders to the value of €71million and €35.5 million, respectively, were granted. In the same period, tax and interest demands were worth almost €222 million, with in excess of €180 million collected. That is a considerable success story for any organisation. The financial benefits accrued to the State by bringing this money into Government coffers supports the work by the Garda and other agencies. That is very important.

I note that the Minister has approved an additional ten staff to the bureau, namely, five gardaí, two financial analysts, two tax officials and an additional administrative assistant. The work is a matter of investigating the background to and ownership of properties. There is much information regarding ownership of bars and large outlets. All these should be researched to find out how people might have funded significant investments in public houses when it was not apparent they had funds at their disposal. The banks may have provided those funds but in some cases it is understood that criminal families are involved in so-called legitimate businesses by using ill-gotten gains.

I congratulate John O'Mahoney, the detective chief superintendent, his team and everybody involved. Every member of the Garda at every level is co-operating in this regard and the work is a credit to everybody, including the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Dermot Ahern. He should take a bow. He is under attack many times in his job but in this respect he and his force deserve great credit for what they have achieved.