Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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Question 70: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the work he has undertaken to prevent further dissident atrocities. [7166/11]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I refer the Deputy to my reply to Priority Question No.1 of today's date. I would like, nevertheless, to repeat that the Government is fully committed to supporting the Garda Síochána in its continuing anti- and counter-terrorist activities and to ensuring, in line with the Programme for Government, that it has all the resources required to defeat this menace. Cross-border security cooperation is the cornerstone of this effort and I am glad to say that in my short time as Minister I have seen just how closely the two police forces work together in this regard.

I have previously stated that I spoke with Northern Ireland Minister of Justice David Ford and with Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Owen Paterson in the immediate aftermath of last Saturday's murderous attack on Constable Ronan Kerr. Indeed, one of my first acts as Minister was to meet with Minister Ford. The Garda Commissioner and PSNI Chief Constable accompanied us to that meeting and shared with us a frank assessment of the threat posed by the small number of criminal terrorists who continue to operate in both jurisdictions. Regular contact is maintained between my Department and the Northern Ireland Department of Justice and the Northern Ireland Office.

Garda efforts to defeat these groups have, in the last eighteen months, resulted in around one hundred people being arrested in connection with terrorist activities. Forty-three people are currently charged before the Special Criminal Court. And fifty-four people are currently imprisoned having been convicted of offences relating to terrorist activity. I will shortly be asking the House to renew the provisions of the legislation enacted after the earlier atrocity in Omagh in 1998, as one means of ensuring that the Gardaí continue to have all the tools they require at their disposal.