Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Combatting organised criminal activity is a key priority for the Government and an ongoing priority for An Garda Síochána. 

As the Deputy is aware, the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill is currently being drafted and will provide, among other matters, for an increase in the penalty for conspiring to commit murder and soliciting to commit murder from a maximum term of imprisonment of ten years to a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

I consider a maximum sentence of life imprisonment to be appropriate given the seriousness of the offences in question. The Deputy will appreciate that, ultimately, the Judiciary is best placed to decide on the appropriate sentence in any given case. The impact of all violent crime spreads far wider than the victims alone and it is vital that the powers available to the Judiciary are such as to provide an appropriate sentence for conspiring to commit the most heinous crime of taking a person's life.

Work is continuing on the drafting of this Bill based on the General Scheme and further legal advices. Justice Plan 2022 commits to the publication of these provisions in the second quarter of this year.

The Justice Plan also commits to working to break the link between gangs and the children they seek to recruit. In 2022, we will progress draft legislation to outlaw the grooming of children into a life of crime. In parallel, we will continue to roll out a community intervention programme, “Greentown”, which seeks to break the link between children who are engaged or at risk of engaging with a criminal gang. 

These new measures will build on a suite of legislative measures which have already been taken in recent years, including:

- The Proceeds of Crime (Amendment) Act 2016, which provides additional Garda powers for the immediate seizure of assets suspected of being the proceeds of crime to prevent them being disposed of;

- The Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Act 2014, providing for the establishment and operation of the DNA database providing Gardaí with links between people and unsolved crimes;

- The Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009, introduced to protect the justice system from being subverted by criminal groups, including potential intimidation of juries.

As the Deputy is aware, An Garda Síochána strengthened its capacity to tackle organised crime in 2015, through the creation of the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB), headed by a Detective Chief Superintendent reporting to Assistant Commissioner, Organised and Serious Crime. The role of the GNDOCB is to proactively, via intelligence-led investigations, target top tier Organised Crime Groups impacting on this jurisdiction. 

This is achieved through effective collaboration with all sections of Organised and Serious Crime, and other sections within An Garda Síochána, through partnerships with other law enforcement agencies such as the Revenue Commissioners and the Naval Service, and partnerships developed with international law enforcement agencies globally.

I am advised by the Garda authorities that in 2021, the GNDOCB seized €63.689m in illicit drugs, and seized cash of €5.6m and £38,751 (UK). In addition, €8.23m and £142,520 (UK) was forfeited to the State in 2021.

On 2 July 2021, An Garda Síochána commenced an enhanced national anti-drugs strategy, Operation Tara, which has a strong focus on tackling street-level dealing throughout rural and urban Ireland. The focus of Operation Tara is to disrupt, dismantle and prosecute drug trafficking networks, at all levels - international, national and local - involved in the importation, distribution, cultivation, production, local sale and supply of controlled drugs.

The Deputy may wish to note that recent successes of Operation Tara include the seizure of drugs valued at in excess of €388,000 following a search operation in Finglas on 20 April 2022 and a further drugs seizure in Portlaoise with an approximate street value of €90,000 on 12 May.