Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I thank the House for the opportunity to speak on the important subject of gun crime. Senators will appreciate that I am very constrained in what I can say about a specific recent tragic incident where a gun was used. A person has been charged so it would be inappropriate for me to comment either on the detail surrounding the immediate incident or the circumstances which gave rise to it. That information will emerge in the fullness of time and we will see if any lessons can be learned from it. At the moment, all I can say is that the death of Mr. O'Kane is deplored by all right-thinking people and our sympathy is with his family and friends, as well as with the wider community in East Wall. The Garda and the local community in East Wall work closely together and this tragic incident will reinforce their determination to continue working together. The House was told last Tuesday, in the course of an Adjournment debate, of the strong and vibrant communities in the East Wall and adjacent areas.

I attach the highest priority to tackling organised and gun crime and bringing those involved in such activities to justice. One of the main priorities I have set for the Garda Síochána in 2009 is to target gun crime, organised crime and drug related crime through a range of measures, including the use of the Garda specialist units and targeted operations, such as Operation Anvil. In doing so, I am conscious of the achievements of the Garda Síochána, whose members are called upon daily to put their lives on the line in their efforts to thwart the activities of gangs. It is because of those efforts that many gang members who may have considered themselves untouchable are behind bars facing long sentences, for which there will be no mitigation.

Operation Anvil began in the Dublin metropolitan region in 2005 to deal with this type of serious crime and was extended nationwide in 2006. The primary focus of the operation is to target active criminals and their associates who are involved in serious crime by preventing and disrupting their criminal activity through extensive additional overt policing and static checkpoints by uniform, mobile and foot patrols, supported by armed plain clothes patrols. By the end of November 2008, 1,200 firearms had been recovered in Dublin and 1,000 had been recovered in the rest of the country under Operation Anvil. There had been more than 7,000 arrests for serious crimes such as murder, robbery and burglary and 67,000 searches for weapons, drugs and stolen goods under the operation, which the Garda will continue to pursue as it relentlessly tackles the issue of illegal guns.

At a time when the public finances are under pressure, I am ensuring that priority continues to be given to front line policing. The level of funding provided under Operation Anvil will increase in 2009 from €20 million to €21 million. That will enable the Garda to continue to target and disrupt serious and organised criminal activity. The decision I made more than four months ago to provide for an increase in funding for the operation, which was made in the context of a reduction of 2.7% in my Department's total Estimate, meant I was giving priority to the fight against organised crime rather than other areas of departmental responsibility. I have been the subject of criticism in this House for that key decision. I have given increased resources to the Garda under Operation Anvil, which specifically targets organised crime, to ensure the fight against such crime can continue. It is obvious that the deployment of additional gardaí on the streets is an important aspect of that. The decision to recruit an additional 400 gardaí in 2009 represents a significant achievement at a time when the overall level of Exchequer funding given to the Department is being reduced.

I emphasise that other key operations will be maintained in 2009. The savings that have to be made will not be allowed to diminish front line policing. The level of funding given next year to the Criminal Assets Bureau, which I recently discussed in the Seanad, will increase by €1.5 million, or 20%. Next year, the overall Garda budget will be €1.589 billion. The recent increase in Garda numbers will more than compensate for the reduction in the allocation for Garda overtime. The attested strength of the force will increase to almost 14,900, from its current attested strength of 14,267, by the end of 2009. During last year's general election campaign, my party indicated that it would increase the number of gardaí to 15,000 by 2010. We will reach that figure at the end of 2009. It is important to remind the House that the main Opposition party, Fine Gael, indicated in the contract it produced before the election that it would not increase Garda numbers to 15,000 until 2012. We will achieve that by the end of next year, three years before the date that was indicated by the Opposition in advance of last year's election.

The number of gardaí will increase from its current level of 14,267 to almost 14,900 by the end of 2009. It will increase by more than 1,100, or 8%, over 2008 and 2009. There are 1,100 recruits in training and 400 new recruits will be taken on in 2009. The significant increase in the policing hours available will more than offset the planned reduction in the overtime budget, from €108 million in 2008 to €80 million in 2009. In the past 21 months, the number of civilians employed in whole time positions by the Garda has increased by 59% to 2,038. It has increased by 20% in 2008. Over the years, the general public, along with most public representatives in both Houses of the Oireachtas and elsewhere, complained that too many gardaí were sitting in stations doing desk duties. There has been a rapid increase in civilianisation over recent years. If one takes into account part-time and temporary employees, the total number of civilians employed by the force increases to approximately 2,600. Given that there will be almost 15,000 gardaí in the force at the end of next year, it is clear there has been a significant increase in the number of people working for the Garda Síochána.

The stark and regrettable reality is that the growing gun culture in Ireland is inevitably having fatal consequences. I accept that our priority has to be to rid this society of illegal weapons. That has been a priority of Operation Anvil which, as I have indicated, has had considerable success. Since my appointment as Minister, I have expressed concern about the number of handguns which have been licensed here in recent years. The majority of licensed firearms holders act responsibly and pursue their interests legitimately. Many of them deeply resent any reference that is made to the increase in the issue of licensed handguns in the context of our crime problem. As Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, I cannot deny that an increase in the number of weapons of a certain type that are in circulation can add to a gun culture. Such a gun culture already operates in criminal gangs. I regret that the activities of criminal gangs are impinging on the interests of law-abiding owners of licensed firearms. I cannot overlook the fact that the overall level and kind of licensed firearms prevalent in the community is relevant to the prevention of crime. This problem is demonstrated by the fact that 27 licensed handguns, including some very serious firearms, have been stolen since 2005. A further 1,236 other firearms were stolen during the same period, some 373 of which were recovered.

All handguns were banned in this jurisdiction from the early 1970s, during the Troubles, until 2004. That is no longer the case, following a series of judicial decisions. Approximately 1,800 handguns have been licensed since 2004. No public policy decision was made to bring about this situation. During the summer, Mr. Justice Charleton said in a judgment that any "reasonable person is entitled to feel alarmed at the proliferation of handguns". I am concerned that the number of handguns licensed could grow exponentially if strong and decisive action is not taken. We could develop a similar firearms regime to that of countries like the United States, which has a very different attitude to weapons. That would be unacceptable.

Some time ago, I directed my Department and the Garda Síochána to conduct an urgent and intensive review of firearms law. Following the review, I introduced proposals to provide that no new licenses will be issued for handguns, subject to limited exceptions in the case of Olympic sports, and existing licenses will not be renewed unless applicants fully meet the requirements of a radically tightened licensing procedure whereby the safety of the community will be paramount. In his judgment on a recent case, Mr. Justice Birmingham indicated that he has some worries in this regard. A District Court judge, Kevin Kilraine, has also indicated his opposition to some of what is happening within the licensing regime.

I hope Members on all sides of the House will feel able to support these proposals. They are not designed to interfere needlessly with the rights of sporting enthusiasts, but to recognise the specific dangers posed by guns. I welcome the fact that the head of the Garda Inspectorate, Kathy O'Toole, who is well known and had broad experience when she was the Boston Police Commissioner, has written strongly in favour of the proposed handgun ban in the latest edition of the Law Society Gazette. While a de facto ban on new handgun licences is already in place, my proposals will be given legislative form in the forthcoming criminal justice (miscellaneous provisions) Bill, which will be published early in the new year. The Bill will tackle comprehensively the issue of airsoft guns by making their possession in public a serious offence. It will contain measures that the Garda Commissioner has suggested to me in respect of the tightening of the law on the possession of knives.

I wish to speak about the problem of guns held or used illegally. Severe penalties for firearms offences are in place under the Criminal Justice Act 2006. For example, the possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and the use of a firearm to resist arrest or aid escape carry a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years. Offences such as the possession of a firearm while hijacking a vehicle, the possession of a firearm or ammunition in suspicious circumstances, the carrying of a firearm with criminal intent and the alteration of a firearm carry a mandatory minimum sentence of five years. It must be remembered that the mandatory penalty for murder, whether using a firearm, is life imprisonment.

The Government has approved my proposals for a criminal justice (covert surveillance) Bill and I recently published the general scheme. The Bill will open up the possibility of intelligence gained through secret surveillance being used as evidence in the prosecution of cases involving serious criminal activity. In the light of the increasing sophistication of criminals, subversives and terrorists, their use of intermediaries and the associated difficulties in obtaining direct evidence, the use of additional evidence is crucial. The Bill will provide for a system of authorisation of covert surveillance, operations which will, as a rule, involve an application to a judge for authorisation to proceed with the surveillance and where the reasons for the surveillance will be clearly set out before the court. The Bill also provides that in cases of exceptional urgency a senior member of the Garda Síochána or the Defence Forces may approve a surveillance operation for a period of no more than 14 days.

Work is also ongoing on the preparation of the general scheme of the criminal procedure Bill. While this Bill is primarily aimed at giving effect to the legislative aspects of the justice for victims initiative which I announced in June, some elements will be of considerable benefit in our fight against serious crime. In particular, I am thinking of the proposal that will enable the Director of Public Prosecutions to seek a retrial where an acquittal is tainted due, for example, to intimidation of witnesses or jurors. There will also be a provision on expert evidence, to ensure the prosecution is given adequate opportunity to examine and challenge evidence being introduced by the defence; in other words, there will be a levelling of the pitch. I expect to be in a position to seek Government approval for the drafting of the Bill in December with a view to its publication in the spring.

Work is also ongoing on the criminal justice (forensic evidence and sampling) Bill which will provide for the establishment of a DNA database for criminal investigation purposes. Such a database will, as has been the experience in other countries, greatly enhance the intelligence available to the Garda Síochána. I expect to be in a position to publish the Bill early in the new year. In difficult financial circumstances, I have made provision in the Estimates for my Department for next year for an €18 million funding package for new state-of-the-art forensic science facilities and State pathology laboratory. This will enable the work on DNA database to proceed once the new legislation is in place.

Many of our reforms have been targeted at the fight against gangland crime. The Criminal Justice Acts of 2006 and 2007, in particular, introduced wide-ranging initiatives to strengthen the capacity of the Garda Síochána to tackle crime. While I do not intend to list every reform, I want to highlight some of the more far-reaching. In the cases of offences connected with organised crime such as murder or kidnapping involving the use of firearms or explosives, detention of up to seven days is possible. The bail laws have been strengthened in order to allow the prosecution to mount a more effective challenge to bail applications, for example, opinion evidence from a chief superintendent that bail should be refused because the applicant is likely to commit a serious offence is admissible. The circumstances in which inferences may be drawn at trial from a suspect's silence in response to Garda questioning have been expanded.

As with all such reforms, it takes time for their impact to be seen in criminal trials. It is naïve to think measures we enact in the House one day will immediately transform the situation the next. However, we have recently begun to see clear evidence that these reforms are working. For example, the figures for 2007 showed a doubling of the number of mandatory minimum ten-year sentences handed down by the courts in drug trafficking cases, compared with 2006. We have seen the provisions allowing for witness statements which a witness fails to stand over or recants to be used in evidence helping to secure a conviction in a recent trial. Up to 11 people who had previously given statements subsequently refused to give evidence or when they went into the witness box, could not remember what had happened. As a result of a change that the House and Oireachtas generally made, the judge in that case was able to take the original written statements provided by the people concerned as their evidence. A positive ruling has also been handed down by the Special Criminal Court in respect of the provisions on the drawing of inferences.

We cannot overlook the fact that the demand for drugs is the lifeblood of many criminal gangs. Anyone, from whatever class or background, who uses illicit drugs is not well placed to deplore the activities of gangs when in reality they are complicit in these activities. The Minister of State at the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Curran, is drawing up the national drugs strategy for the next eight years. I expect that strategy will be debated fully in the House. I will confine myself to saying I reject completely suggestions made from time to time from some quarters that the answer lies in legalising drugs. That overlooks completely the harm that comes from drug abuse and would be handing a victory to purveyors of death and destruction.

As we recently had statements in the House on the excellent work being done by the Criminal Assets Bureau, I will not go over that ground again, other than to say four months ago when I was preparing the Estimates, I earmarked a 20% increase for the bureau.

The increasing use of guns in our society raises serious issues which must be and are being addressed. However, we must do so in the context of the factual position. The CSO crime statistics for the third quarter of this year show a continuing marked decrease in homicide offences, of 57% in the quarter. The number of murders in the quarter reduced by 50% and instances of dangerous driving leading to death by 85.7%, with no percentage change in cases of manslaughter. There has also been an 8.3% decrease in the number of murder threats. Year-on-year there has been a decrease of 50% in the number of homicide offences, including a 33% decrease in the number of murders. This downward trend is continuing. The number of firearms murders to date this year is on a par with that in the same period last year — 21 compared with 18. Obviously, 21 firearms murders are 21 too many.

There is no doubt that some of the gangland killings occur in the wake of Garda activity directed against gangs. That activity has led to a situation where gang members have sought retribution against other gang members as a result of the Garda success. Such killings are to be deplored but the Garda cannot and will not be deflected from taking every possible action against gangs just because there is that danger. Let me put something beyond doubt. I pledge, on behalf of the Government, that all resources of the State will be used in our unstinting endeavours to ensure there will be no hiding place for those who engage in gangland activities and the illegal use of guns. I reiterate that our first priority is the fight against crime and keeping gardaí on the streets to deal with the burgeoning gun culture, particularly illegal guns. It is a priority of the Garda and the State resources to ensure they are all apprehended. Thankfully, since 2005, under Operation Anvil, some 2,200 firearms have been apprehended.

I can appreciate that Members on both sides of the House have been lobbied by gun clubs on my stated intentions regarding licensed handguns. I can accept that this is a difficult issue. I am not so naïve as to think that moving on licensed handguns will solve the overall crime problem, in particular, the illegal use of handguns by organised criminals. However, when a judge brings to the attention of the public and the Oireachtas that any reasonable person would need to feel alarmed at the proliferation of licensed handguns, that is an indication that we should do something about it. In conjunction with my Cabinet colleagues, I finally decided that the people do not want a gun culture here. They want to be sure that we will not go down the road followed by other countries. Regardless of whether it was decided by the Legislature or whether it just happened as a result of court decisions — as happened recently here — given that we have gone from zero licensed handguns in 2004 to 1,800 today, we need to take action. If we did not take action and if, God forbid, something did happen as a result of the use of a licensed handgun by the person licensed or a person who had stolen it, the public and media commentators would validly ask why the politicians had not acted.