Minister for Justice Michael McDowell says he hopes to see a range of new anti-crime measures, including new gun laws, electronic tagging and antisocial behaviour orders, in place by the middle of next year.
Outlining the 18 separate measures, he also announced he would be implementing a key recommendation of the Ferns report, to create a new criminal offence of "reckless endangerment".
This would make people or bodies liable to criminal prosecution for failing to take adequate child protection measures if they become aware of allegations of child abuse.
The anti-crime measures announced by Mr McDowell include the creation of a series of new offences, such as membership of a criminal organisation, the supply of drugs to prisoners and modifying firearms.
Mandatory sentences will also be introduced for firearms offences of between five and 10 years.
There will also be a one-off gun amnesty where people in possession of unlicensed firearms that have not been used in criminal activities will be able to hand them in without facing prosecution.
Legislation will also be introduced to allow for electronic tagging. This will be introduced on a pilot basis before a decision on whether to roll it out nationwide is made.
Mr McDowell also announced the introduction of Asbos (antisocial behaviour orders), which he said would be considerably different from, and take into account criticisms of, the system in Britain.
Gardaí of the rank of superintendent or higher would be the only ones who would be permitted to make an Asbo application to the courts. They would last for a maximum of two years and would be applied only in the case of serious offences.
Separate proposals for Asbos for under-18s would be brought to Government shortly, he said.
Mr McDowell defended the decision to introduce the measures as an amendment to the current Criminal Justice Bill, which has already passed through two stages of Dáil debate, and said there had already been considerable consultation on the measures in the last 12 months.
The introduction of a new bill would have made it difficult to get through the criminal justice reform agenda of the Government. "The idea of these amendments is to put in place a fairly comprehensive agenda for this Dáil," he said.
Mr McDowell also rejected criticisms that some of the measures would impinge on civil liberties and said they should be considered alongside Garda reforms.
"Taken as a whole, my reform package is balanced and represents an appropriate response to the changing nature of crime while at the same time ensuring the rights of arrested persons are more solidly protected than at any time in the past," he said.
However, he acknowledged that the new offence of being a member of a criminal organisation would be difficult to prosecute successfully. "The fact that it's difficult to prove an offence doesn't mean that it shouldn't be an offence," he said.