I want to express my utter dissatisfaction and frustration at trying to raise this important matter of law enforcement measures to combat the drugs problem. I have had this request for the Adjournment debate before the Ceann Comhairle for eight weeks which must be an all time record. It is ironic I have had to wait eight weeks to raise the matter and get a response from a Minister as it seems the Ministers responsible for this area do not deem it important enough to come into the Chamber. I cannot understand why the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry is coming here to deal with a matter that is primarily of concern to the constituents in Dublin working class areas. It is a disgrace that the Government is paying so little attention to this issue.
I had expected either the Minister for Justice or the Minister for Finance to be present to deal with the drugs problem. Without doubt the drugs problem is the biggest issue facing us in the Dublin area. It is devastating thousands of lives and destroying entire communities and needs to be given priority by Government. I regret to say there is little evidence — today there is more proof of the point — of the political will to deal with this emergency with the resources and urgency it demands.
While the middle class debate supply reduction versus demand reduction the wave of drug related crime continues to engulf the city destroying the lives of many of my constituents. Our first priority must be to stem the supply of drugs and we do this by tackling the operations of the main drug barons. It is an affront to most ordinary people to read the minute details of the extravagant lifestyles of these gangsters in the newspapers.
On a regular basis we read about the expensive properties they own, their big cars, their movements and their associates yet they appear to be untouchable. These people are quite openly making huge profits from drug dealing yet the State seems powerless to deal with them. Some are in receipt of social welfare payments and live in Dublin Corporation houses. Apart from the appalling damage that drug dealing is causing to my constituents and others across the city, the drug barons are providing the most dreadful example to the smaller dealers down the line and to the many young people living on the fringes of society and considering a life of crime.
We either tackle this problem or give up and let the criminals run the country. The Garda Síochána complain about an inadequate exchange of information between themselves, the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social Welfare. The Revenue Commissioners understandably fear for their own safety and that of their families. What should be done? The Government must establish a special unit comprising hand picked personnel from the Revenue Commissioners, the Garda Síochána and the Department of Social Welfare to target the drug barons. The existing wide-ranging powers of the Revenue Commissioners should be extended to this unit and the personal protection of its members must be guaranteed. The unit must be fully resourced as is necessary, regardless of cost.
The options are to do this, or give up because it is not until these godfathers of crime are put behind bars and their assets confiscated that we can start to seriously tackle the drugs emergency.
