Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Senators who contributed to the debate. I am particularly grateful for the support for the measures taken by the Government to fight organised crime. I will respond in a few minutes to the individual issues raised by Senators. It is important to note that the proposed regulations we have debated will strengthen the capacity of the Garda and the Revenue Commissioners to seize cash by lowering the threshold for the exercise of this power under the Criminal Justice Act 1994 from over €6,000 down to €1,000. Lowering the threshold to €1,000 strikes the right balance between limiting the power of seizure to substantial amounts of cash and enabling gardaí and Revenue Commissioners to take more effective action against organised crime. There are safeguards in place in the legislation. Detention beyond 48 hours is not possible without judicial authorisation.

On some of the points raised in the debate, I thank Senator Lorraine Clifford-Lee for her support relating to violent gangs and organised crime. That is something we have to deal with as part of the strategy. She is right. We have to deal with early intervention, educational disadvantage and the physical well-being of the north inner city. There are many other areas right across the State where we have to deal with the physical aspect. We also have to deal with the environmental issues, such as economic, social and educational disadvantage. All of these have to be part of the package. Yesterday I was at a meeting with the Taoiseach at which we raised all those issues. Some people dealt the crime, others with drugs; I particularly zoomed in on educational disadvantage and some of the examples of good practice in disadvantaged areas. The Senator is right that we have to have an overall package to deal with this issue.

Senator Daly then mentioned empowering the gardaí. We have to have the gardaí to tackle these gangs, but we also have to have a Garda Síochána that does not demand the respect of the community but goes out there and earns it. This applies to all public services right across many of these areas. If a good local teacher, local guard, local HSE worker or staff member, or somebody who works in a youth club builds up the respect of the young people and the rest of the community, they can do an awful lot of good. That is something we have to develop. Often it is the calibre and quality of the people on the front line that matters.

Senator Daly also raised the issue of human rights compliance. That is something we always have to be vigilant about.

I agree with Senator Martin Conway's point on the proximity of the issue. Many of us know some of the people directly involved in these horrific murders. It is particularly sad for those of us who do. I agree that we need to send out a clear message that every Member of this House will not accept this kind of behaviour and neither will the people of the north inner city, in this case, or the people of Galway, Limerick, Cork or any part of the country. That message has to go out. It is important that people get the message.When I attended the meeting in the hall in Sheriff Street that was the message we got from the local community, namely, the need to deal with this issue, the community needs protection and safety but they also need economic and investment to tackle social issues such as housing.

Senator Bacik spoke about CAB and the issue of safeguards. I agree that the safeguards have to be 100%. With regard to CAB, there is potential for the development of an effective community redistribution system which is being considered as part of a medium-term review of the overall proceeds of crime legislation. Funds seized by CAB will be distributed to the local community. This has been discussed, and the late Tony Gregory also spoke about this many times. The potential system is being examined and the Senator is correct also about the issue of safeguards.

Senator Ruane made reference to the smaller amounts. I disagree with her on this particular issue but I believe strongly that one has to have concerns about the inner city issues and one has to have proper task forces to tackle economic disadvantage. I accept the Senator's point about the street traders and such people because 20 years ago I was involved in campaigns with the late Tony Gregory on these types of issues. However, I do not necessarily agree with a threshold of €1,000. We must ensure that we target, most of the time, the bigger crime lords and criminals who should be the focus. We have to listen to all dissenting voices in this debate because we can all learn from this process. It is very important.

It is also the case that a person who is affected by the detention of cash can at any time apply to the court to have it released if the detention is not justified. That is a part answer to that issue. As I have already said, this proposal is part of a package of measures aimed at combatting organised crime. The measures include proposals to strengthen the Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Act 2005, proposals for additional funding for An Garda Síochána and greater engagement with the local community in Dublin city on the broader socio-economic issues which must be addressed.

I thank all Senators for their contributions and I will absolutely reintroduce a task force. The answer is that a task force will be set up and we have started that process with a meeting yesterday. That is the next stage of the development and response to this issue. I will bring the matters which were discussed today back to the Cabinet sub-committee.