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.

A number of key actions have been taken as part of our plan to tackle illegal drug use. This includes:

• 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. Since then the unit has 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.

I sought the information requested by the Deputy from An Garda Síochána and have been advised that this information cannot be shared for security reasons.

I am informed that it is the experience of the Garda National Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB), that such information is invaluable to local drug trafficking networks and can at times be taken into account when active in their respective criminal enterprises.

I am also informed by the Garda authorities that this information can facilitate the identification of all officers deployed full time on such duties, and in turn the work patterns of such officers.

I am however assured that Garda management keeps the distribution of resources under continual review, in the context of crime trends and policing priorities.