I am disappointed that the Minister decided to take the two questions together. It is indicative of the attitude of the Department and the confusion of the Department on how they should handle Dublin's crime wave. There is no comparison between the two areas.

A question please.

In the Evening Herald yesterday evening it was reported that within a few hours of the change of personnel in the gardaí these gangsters robbed 22 tons of aluminium and a fork lift truck. Will the Minister plead with the gardaí to keep an eye on a 100-ton crane down there? If that is not done it will disappear also. The situation is very serious.

We will keep an eye on it and on the Deputy in case he disappears.

Not politically.

This is so serious that the Minister will have to augment the force operating in that area. The goods stored there are very valuable.

The Deputy is making a statement rather than asking a question.

The Minister should seek the help of the harbour police in this regard.

The reason I took the two questions together—it was my decision and not a departmental one—was because they both related to the essential question of the strength of the force. I should like to state that there has been no diminution in the special crime patrol available for the docks area. As I stated in my reply in reference to recent publicity which suggested that a special crime unit operating in the docks area has been disbanded, it has not been and there has been no diminution in the number of gardaí on duty there. The harbour police are there to supplement the gardaí in whatever way they can within their limited legal range.

There has been diminution.