Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join with my party’s acting leader, Senator Mark Daly, in calling for the tagging of those criminals walking our streets every day who have been remanded by our courts. As he pointed out, it would cost very little money compared to what it would cost to hold them in the prison system. As I have stated on several occasions, smarter policing is the way to go. A good start to that would be the introduction of the number plate identification system across the country. This system would tell whether a car is registered, taxed, insured and its NCT is up to date. It would also make it easy to identify whether the plates were cloned, a car had been stolen or used by criminals for an illegal or attempted illegal act. These are matters in which we can make progress on relatively quickly. Will the Acting Leader impart that information to his colleagues in the Government?

I welcome the recent announcement by the Minister for Justice and Equality that her Department will spend money on the acquisition of new high-powered Garda vehicles, as mentioned by Senator Paschal Mooney. On Tuesday last, Senator Terry “The Scoob” Brennan welcomed that allocation of money and the 230 odd high-powered vehicles that will be purchased, in addition to the 300 already purchased, allegedly. This will bring it up to almost 600 Garda vehicles. The question I want to put to the acting Leader and Senator Terry “The Scoob” Brennan, is who is going to drive these vehicles. Garda numbers have depleted.