Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

There is anger, fear and concern among the public at the brutal murder of Shane Geoghegan. War is taking place on our streets, a war the State is losing. We need stronger deterrents, for example, a minimum of 25 years for murder. Electronic surveillance evidence should also be allowed in court. The anomalies mentioned by Senator Quinn must also be addressed. These are only some of the areas that must be addressed sooner rather than later.

Ministers talk about the heads of Bills taking 12 months, but we can introduce emergency legislation when we want. I agree we need to get the legislation right, but we introduced measures previously, after the death of Veronica Guerin, which have served the country well up to now. However, we need further measures to deal with the problem of the war on our streets. We must put policies and measures in place to address these savages. Greed, money and drugs are driving the problem and we must deal with the issues in the strongest possible manner. Putting off the introduction of measures for a year or more is inadequate and not what the public wants. We need a strong response now.