Lisa McDonald (Fianna Fail)

I also support the call for a debate on the report of the Garda Síochána inspectorate. Many of the challenges that are faced by the Garda include issues of seniority. There is a different standard applying to well run sections of the force than to those sections that are not so well run. Across the different stations we find a different standard of garda, sergeant and inspector. That is something we need to examine, as well as recruitment. Many people might enjoy a career in the Garda Síochána but perhaps might not like to go in at the lower levels and work their way up. That is something we need to examine in a modern society.

We need to acknowledge that the gangland legislation that was brought in last summer has had some gangland members running scared. Most of us get our information on gangland criminals from Sunday newspapers, but if people like Paul Williams are to be believed, it would appear that gangland criminals are scared of this legislation. It will be tried and tested in the courts in the near future when we are dealing with the spate of recent killings in Finglas and in north Dublin. I look forward to seeing how it works out, but I do not think it is fair to say the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is not in control of his brief. He most certainly is in control, and he has been very effective. We are always going to have gangland criminals and new gangs replacing old gangs, but it is important to keep breaking up those gangs. They will reform and there is nothing much we can do about that, but we must do our side of things as legislators and I believe we have done so. The Minister continues to control that brief.

The Civil Partnership Bill 2009 was debated in the Dáil yesterday. I was hoping that we could debate domestic violence and how the Bill will affect this. We have been calling for this for some time and it is important we have the debate prior to the Bill coming before this House on Second Stage. There are issues that will be affected by the Bill and we need a total examination of the area, rather than dealing with it in a piecemeal, typical Irish fashion. We then end up with a series of loopholes and a nonsense is made of the law. We have been asking for this debate, as we have been asking for a debate on women in politics for some time. Most women in this House have stood up and asked for that debate, and I do not want a response from the Leader about the brilliant women in Mullingar and Westmeath. I am not being cheeky, but I do not want that response.