Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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Tackling drug dealing and targeting the work of organised crime groups, who inflict intimidation, violence and misery on families and communities, is a top priority for the Government and my Department.

The scourge of drugs affects all areas of Ireland, rural and urban and a number of key actions have been taken as part of our plan to tackle illegal drug use. These include:

• Increasing the maximum sentence for conspiracy to murder from 10 years to life in prison to tackle those who direct gangland and drug related crime;
• Enacting new laws to criminalise the grooming of children into a life of crime;
• Drafting new laws which will provide for the use of facial recognition technology in the investigation of certain drug offences;
• Rolling out a support programme to break the link between the gangs and the children they try to recruit.

My Department is also working to introduce legislation to further strengthen the State’s ability to seize criminal assets and to target the proceeds of crime. The new Bill will also speed up the process to dispose of seized assets for the benefit of the State.

In addition to the legislative and other measures introduced by my Department, unprecedented funding has been provided to An Garda Síochána which has enabled the Commissioner to assign extra resources to the specialist units involved in tackling organised crime.

The Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) leads in tackling all forms of drug trafficking and the supply of illicit drugs in Ireland. The GNDOCB was established in 2015. In its first ten years of operation the unit seized €627 million in illicit drugs, 171 firearms and 6,586 rounds of ammunition, and made 1,722 arrests.

An Garda Síochána continue to target those involved in street-level drug dealing across the country and also focuses on disrupting and dismantling the drug trafficking networks that impact our communities, and prosecuting those involved at every level, through Operation Tara. The focus of Operation Tara is to disrupt, dismantle and prosecute drug trafficking networks, at all levels - international, national, local - involved in the importation, distribution, cultivation, production, local sale and supply of controlled drugs. Under Operation Tara, individuals and groups involved in the drug trade will be the target of enforcement activity based on intelligence and the latest crime trends.Where criminality is identified, Divisional Asset Profilers identify unexplained wealth and may submit appropriate referrals to the Criminal Assets Bureau for further investigation.