Home > Dail Eireann debate. Topical issue debate - Gangland crime.

[Oireachtas] Dail Eireann debate. Topical issue debate - Gangland crime. (07 Nov 2019)

External website: https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2...


Deputy Fergus O'Dowd: This important debate is at a difficult time for people in my community, particularly in east Meath and Drogheda. A gang war has been going on for some years in Drogheda. Despite the welcome efforts and supports which the Garda and the Minister for Justice and Equality have put in place, we had a second gangland killing this very week. It shocked and appalled everybody in our area.

 

I welcome the commitments given by the Garda Commissioner and the Minister for Justice and Equality to our community. They have personally visited the areas in question. Not only that, but they have provided significant additional resources to the Garda in Drogheda to fight this appalling level of crime.

 

Due to the excellent work of the Garda, some of the criminal activity has been displaced and moved into the county area of south Louth. This week, sadly and appallingly, it moved into a built-up fine estate in east Meath. The people in east Meath are concerned because the Garda actually patrolled the estate in question half an hour before an assassination by a criminal gang of a rival criminal gang member. What the people want is increased resources in the east Meath area.

 

One concern is that the population of east Meath has grown exponentially. As the Acting Chairman knows, up to 10,000 people now live in the area between Julianstown and Drogheda which used to be a sparsely populated rural area. The Garda station there is physically inadequate. There are 18 gardaí based there, two of them sergeants. They have no operational room and it does not have sufficient opening hours. We need a new Garda station there. I was in communication with the Garda Commissioner some weeks ago about this matter. I do not expect the Minister to give me an answer on that today. However, the issue is presenting a difficulty. The nearest official control centre for the Garda in east Meath is Ashbourne which is many miles away. The Garda station in Drogheda is closer.

 

I raised this issue with Garda chief superintendent, Christy Mangan, on Monday, the day before this assassination took place. He told me that there are protocols in place and cover for east Meath is provided by Drogheda Garda station which is in the Louth division, as and when the seriousness arises. The people in the community of east Meath are not clear on this issue. We need a statement from the Minister and the Garda Commissioner on this. I know the Garda Commissioner is coming to a joint policing committee in the east Meath area shortly.

 

Perhaps, when it is appropriate, the Minister will visit the area, as he did Drogheda, to reassure residents that he is doing his best. We need increased physical presence in terms of Garda. The Minister will be aware that the Garda Commissioner is due to visit the area.

The fight against crime is never-ending and drug crime is a significant and serious issue in Drogheda but An Garda Síochána is winning. There is no doubt but that increased pressure in terms of policing, the Armed Response Unit and CAB is making is mark, but we need more. As recently as Monday last, Superintendent Christy Mangan in Drogheda made an application for the retention of the current resources into the future. I am not suggesting there is any doubt in this regard, but there was a serious question raised about the matter earlier in the week.

 

Minister for Justice and Equality (Deputy Charles Flanagan): I thank Deputy Fergus O'Dowd for again raising this matter. I condemn the violent loss of life that occurred on Monday last in Bettystown, County Meath. As Deputies will be aware, An Garda Síochána is conducting a full investigation into this matter and I am limited in what I can say about an operational matter. Deputy O'Dowd has been unstinting in his advocacy on this issue over a long number of months. I acknowledge his leadership in the area and I echo his appeal to anybody with any information on this matter to contact An Garda Síochána at the incident room in Ashbourne Garda station or the Garda confidential line I800 666 111. More generally, I am aware of the concerns of the people in the area referred to by Deputy O'Dowd and of the constituents of County Louth, which is also the constituency of the Acting Chairman, Deputy Breathnach. I can assure the people of Drogheda and east Meath that neither the Government nor An Garda Síochána will permit a small number of individuals to continue to put local communities in fear for their safety.

 

The Taoiseach and I visited Drogheda over the summer and we were both very impressed by the robust response which has been put in place in the region by the Garda authorities under Operation Stratus, which consists of high visibility patrols and checkpoints, days of action, covert policing initiatives and the targeting of specific parties engaged in fued-related criminality. This operation, supported by divisional and district uniformed and plain-clothes personnel and, in particular, the roads policing unit, community engagement and public safety personnel, detective drugs and crime units, the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and the emergency response unit. The Garda has made important progress in tackling the threat of organised crime and they work closely with colleagues in other jurisdictions in investigating the supply of drugs and guns.

 

I remind Deputies that co-operation with relevant agencies and intelligence-led policing is producing significant results in the fight against organised criminality in Drogheda and elsewhere. For example, last week gardaí attached to the Garda National Drugs and Organised Bureau intercepted a commercial haulage vehicle in Dundalk and recovered cannabis herb with an estimated value of €3.2 million, subject to analysis. Two men were arrested and investigations are continuing. Against this background, the Government has made unprecedented resources available to An Garda Síochána of €1.76 billion this year, plus €92 million in capital investment, which is a 50% increase in capital funding on the allocation for 2018. Provision for next year has increased to €1.882 billion, as well as capital investment of €116 million, which is a further 26% increase. As Garda numbers are increasing, we are on track to meet the Government's target of an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 by 2021.

 

I acknowledge the work of Chief Superintendent Christy Mangan and his team in Drogheda and Louth. An Garda Síochána has the full support of the Government in its ongoing work and we are providing record resources to enable it to perform its critical role in difficult and challenging circumstances, as outlined by Deputy Fergus O'Dowd. The purpose of this funding and the Government's support for police reform is to ensure the best possible policing services are provided across the country and, in the context of this debate, Drogheda and east Meath.

 

I again thank Deputy Fergus O'Dowd for raising this important issue this evening.

Item Type
Dail Debates
Publication Type
Irish-related
Drug Type
Substances (not alcohol/tobacco)
Intervention Type
Crime prevention, Policy
Date
7 November 2019
EndNote

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