John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

If this Bill had been enacted some years ago more lives might have been saved. I understand that those who defend civil liberties would have anxieties and there are questions, but in extraordinary times one must take extraordinary measures. The introduction of this Bill has terrorised those criminal gangs. It is hard to credit how they perceive themselves. Perhaps they see themselves as some modern day OK Corrall-type, Wyatt Earp or Doc Holliday figures, but they are despised by the people, they are feared by their neighbours and they are company with which no decent people would want to be seen. What we are doing will serve the State well.