139. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Justice the average purity of cocaine, heroin and cannabis seized here in each of the past five years. [24718/25]

Jim O'Callaghan, Minister for Justice: Forensic Science Ireland (FSI) quantifies drug purity levels in the market for cocaine and diamorphine (heroin) and provides annual trend information to An Garda Síochána, the Department of Health and other relevant stakeholders in the Criminal Justice field. For operational reasons and for the purposes of the Criminal Justice system, such information is confidential, except to relevant stakeholders.

Tackling drug dealing and targeting the work of organised crime groups, who inflict intimidation, violence and misery on families and communities, is a top priority for the Government and my Department.

A number of key actions have been taken as part of our plan to tackle illegal drug use. These include

• Increasing the maximum sentence for conspiracy to murder from ten years to life in prison to tackle those who direct gangland and drug related crime;
• Enacted new laws to criminalise the grooming of children into a life of crime;
• Drafting new laws which will provide for the use of facial recognition technology in the investigation of certain drug offences;
• Rolling out a support programme to break the link between the gangs and the children they try to recruit

My Department is also working to introduce legislation to further strengthen the State’s ability to seize criminal assets and to target the proceeds of crime. The new Bill will also speed up the process to dispose of seized assets for the benefit of the State.

In addition to the legislative and other measures introduced by my Department, unprecedented funding has been provided to An Garda Síochána which has enabled the Commissioner to assign extra resources to the specialist units involved in tackling organised crime.

The Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau (GNDOCB) leads in tackling all forms of drug trafficking and the supply of illicit drugs in Ireland. The GNDOCB was established in 2015. In its first ten years of operation the unit seized €627 million in illicit drugs, 171 firearms and 6,586 rounds of ammunition, and made 1,722 arrests.