Caít Keane (Fine Gael)

I raise the issue of robberies, particularly those which affect older people. Senator Conway asked for another organisation for older people and I put on record that there are many such bodies working for older people. These include Age Action Ireland, Older and Bolder, the Irish Senior Citizens Parliament and the national council for older people. These bodies are doing a very fine job, and although we are not in the business of setting up many organisations, we should recognise those who are working for older people.

I have risen to speak about robberies, particularly people targeted for gold. I had a call from a very upset woman the day before yesterday who had been robbed. Although she had other valuable items, the only belongings targeted were gold. I watched a television programme which linked cash for gold shops to easy disposal of stolen gold. That programme did an undercover survey, as gold is the only commodity holding value now, that took in four cash for gold shops. The people in the shops were giving a quarter of the market price for gold, with the most being paid at a level of half the market price. The robbers are being robbed as well. Only one of the shops asked for identification and there is no regulation, although there should be. A lack of regulation indicates to robbers that they can rob people of gold and it can be easily disposed of.

When former Deputy Dermot Ahern was Minister responsible for justice, he commissioned a report from the Garda on the matter, which has only been passed to the Minister for Justice and Equality recently. Will the Minister come to the House to make a statement on the matter? Will he indicate after reading the Garda report whether it is necessary to introduce legislation to regulate those shops? They are an easy market for people who get gold through illegal means.