Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

Over the past 12 months I have regularly called for a debate on law and order, to no avail. We have had no debate on law and order. We are only two months into 2010 and eight people are dead because of gangland murders. There were 20 deaths in 2009 but we have already reached 35% of that figure this year. Despite rushing legislation through this House to make gang membership a criminal offence, no arrests have yet been made under this provision and nobody has been convicted for a gangland murder in the past three years. As we all know, the drug trade fuels gangland crime and it is thriving at present.

Security in our ports and airports falls far below the required levels. Two container scanners are expected to cover every port in the country. This is an absolute disgrace.

Last year alone, 2,174 mobile telephones were seized in our prisons. Criminals continue to run their operations from jail. If the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform cannot secure our prisons, how can he secure our streets? We need him to come to the House to account for his very poor stewardship. He can snigger and mock in the other House, yet he cannot be accountable to us for the appalling condition of law and order in this State. He needs to come to the House at the earliest possibly opportunity. We have been waiting 12 months for a debate on law and order. Crime is rife on our streets but we cannot have a debate in this House. It is an absolute disgrace.