Vol. 513 No. 4
106 Mr. Broughan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the action, if any, being taken to deal with the spate of gangland murders, particularly in the Dublin area, including the murder of two young men whose bodies were found in the Grand Canal in January 2000; the number of persons murdered from 1 January 1999 to date; the number of cases in respect of which charges have not been brought; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2512/00]
All murders are the subject of exhaustive investigation by the Garda regard less of the circumstances in which they have occurred.
The Grand Canal incident to which the Deputy refers is currently the subject of such an investigation and it would not be appropriate for me as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to give details of an ongoing Garda investigation. However, I have been assured by the Commissioner that everything possible is being done to ensure a successful conclusion to this case.
Provisional figures indicate that 42 murders were committed during the period 1 January, 1999 to date. Thirty three were detected and proceedings have commenced in 28 of these cases. It should be pointed out that these figures are, of course, provisional and may be subject to change for operational-legal reasons.
