There is a specific problem of criminal activity in Limerick which in recent years has been driven by a small number of feuding criminal families in small pockets of the city and is motivated by the illegal drugs trade. As the programme clearly highlighted, the gardaí in Limerick have had considerable success in tackling these feuding criminal elements and a substantial number of gang members have been prosecuted and are in custody. Many of these are serving long sentences, including sentences for violent disorder, drug trafficking and life sentences for murder.
Policing strategies in place have been effective and are paying dividends. These strategies are continually being reviewed and evaluated. While I view with the utmost seriousness any attempts at intimidation of the gardaí or any other personnel operating in the criminal justice sphere, I am informed by the Garda authorities that attempts at intimidation have not prevented the Chief State Solicitor or the gardaí from carrying out their professional duties or enforcing the law. I am planning a number of relevant legislative amendments in the context of the Criminal Justice Bill 2004. The first of these is provided for in Part 3 of the Bill. These provisions will allow the courts to admit in certain specified circumstances previous witness statements where a witness recants or refuses to testify at trial. Given that such refusal to co-operate may arise from intimidation, the provision is designed to ensure that witness statements might still be available to the courts even though the witness subsequently refuses to co-operate. Other initiatives, which I will propose by way of amendments to the Bill, will make it an offence to participate in or contribute to the activities of a criminal organisation and will strengthen existing provisions for minimum mandatory sentences for drug trafficking.
