Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald says the Criminal Assets Bureau advised her on new measures which she has announced. Ms Fitzgerald expressed confidence this is the way to tackle gangland crime.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Sean O’Rourke she said she had “they’ve been working with this legislation for the past 20 years very successfully, it’s one of the huge successes following the death of Veronica Guerin.
“I have to take what they say and act on it, if I’m advised by the people on the front line this is how to act, I will respond to them.”
The Minister clarified that the money does not have to be going through airport to be seized, it could be in their home.
“I’ve worked with inner city communities for many years so I know how upsetting it is for local communities to see these people flaunting assets. What role model is that for young men or women if they see people getting cash easily?
“It’s not window dressing, you have to react differently to different patterns of crime.
It is an operational issue, I was asked to support it. I’m advised that this is the best way forward in terms of use of Garda resources.
“It’s about making the best use of resources available – targeting and focusing it on a particular issue in this case gangland activity. Of course there has to be extra money, after the Regency shooting I announced extra money for the armed response unit, that was a €5 million initiative.”
The Minister said that the series of measures announced yesterday showed that the Government is committed to backing the gardaí to face down the gangs. “We are seeing unprecedented violence. Overtime is already estimated this year at €41.9million, that’s going to increase. It’s a whole of government response.
“I’m very confident that whatever resources are required there will be a budget for that. The Taoiseach and I have told the gardaí to use whatever resources you need. There is obviously going to be a budget for that. I told the Garda Commissioner it is absolutely clear you will have to use extensive overtime. It is going to run into tens of millions. We will have to provide for that. I am in discussions with the Department of Public Expenditure on that.”
Retiring officers
When asked about experienced gardaí due to retire being given an option to stay on, she said that was a possibility.
“The idea of selecting out some to stay is fraught with challenges from a public sector point of view. I am the Minister who reopened Templemore. Mistakes were made before when a lot of probationary gardaí were taken in, we’ve seen that in the O’Higgins investigation. If you don’t have the supervisors when those gardaí go out, you end up with a whole lot of other difficulties.
“We will accelerate recruitment into Templemore. You can’t magic up new gardaí, but what you can do is give the current gardaí the resources to do the work in terms of overtime and supports. There is a civilianisation programme going on as well.”
When asked if she had confidence in the Garda Commissioner, the Minister said yes she did.
“I set up a new Police Authority to monitor the work of the police. What we saw last week was the Police Authority doing its job. I am absolutely clear there is work to be done. A cultural change is necessary in terms of whistleblowers. I do believe that change is under way.
“Most organisations have problems with whistleblowers, but there are things you can do to make sure you implement that.”
She said she was shocked by the John McGuinness comments last week. “We’ve had an investigation. That information should have been brought to the commission. Any information that was relevant, I would have preferred that information be made available there.”