Thank you for allowing me to raise this matter but, like Deputy O'Keeffe, I deplore the absence of the Minister for Justice. While I have every respect for the Minister of State and I sympathise about the new responsibilities thrust upon him, he seems to have been appointed Minister with responsibility for Adjournment Matters in addition to his other responsibilities.
The phenomenon known as contract killing has been one of the most sinister developments in the rising tide of violent crime. When I last raised this matter in the House on 30 April 1996, I referred to a report in The Irish Times which listed 11 cases of murder, all of which were almost certainly contract killings, some dating back to 1994. None of them had been solved at that time, although I understand a number of files have now gone to the DPP. As the year has progressed we have been forced to endure yet another spate of gangland executions.
The rise in contract killings is inextricably linked to the greater availability of illegal firearms. The Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act, 1990 sets out to control the supply and distribution of illegal guns but unfortunately it has not worked and illegal firearms continue to proliferate. In many cases these are imported with large consignments of drugs as the trafficker's "sweetener" in the drug deal. In Limerick city, which I represent, the experience has been that almost anyone who wishes to gain access to an illegal firearm can readily do so. It can be purchased for the going rate or, alternatively, rented for a period. The current price for renting an illegal firearm in Limerick is about £40 per hour and the standard charge for a contract "hit" is about £2,000. However, as guns proliferate life inevitably becomes cheaper. In Limerick recently a price of £400 was quoted for shooting someone. In some larger urban areas of the US, the police have managed to reduce levels of violent crime by targeting illegal firearms. The gardaí should mount a similar operation here without delay.
I recognise that contract killings are hard to solve. In many cases they are carried out by professionals who are well acquainted with the law and careful to leave no forensic evidence. There is no link between the killer and his victim, therefore there is no motive in the popularly understood sense of that word. Nevertheless it has to be said that Garda success in solving these crimes has been conspicuous by its relative absence. The force has made much progress in the battle against organised crime but all too many contract killers and those who order the murders are still at large.
A number of factors contribute to this. The Garda management style, notable for its lack of consultation, has led to a devastating collapse in morale. The abolition of specialist units in the Garda, again without consultation, has proved in retrospect to be a catastrophic blunder. The Garda promotion system has denied opportunity to those more skilled in the art of detection, and overall competence has been badly compromised as a result.
The people are entitled to ask where this will stop. Some have advanced the theory that highly organised death squads are at work, operating covertly and with ruthless efficiency. There is some evidence to support that. What is certain is that the inexorable rise in gangland killings and the lamentable failure of the authorities to stem the tide presents a deadly threat to democracy.
The victims of contract killing are often people who have been involved in crime. This has tended to give the public the subliminal message that it should not be as concerned about those killings as it might be about others. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is no room for complacency about murder. The greater tendency to resort to murder, even to settle the most trivial dispute, inevitably endangers everyone.
