Is the Taoiseach saying it is the routine task of Ministers to discuss all aspects of Government policy? This is news to most of us. Does this mean the Minister for Transport will discuss the dangers of binge drinking? Will the Taoiseach have a word, for example, with the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform when he returns from his lecture tour about Operation Freeflow? Why do we have it for only one month of the year? Why, in a situation where people cannot get to work in the morning, can it not be extended to 12 months of the year? Why can there not be a dedicated traffic corps? Why can the Taoiseach not talk to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform about that? What is the difficulty posed? We have been talking about a dedicated traffic corps for a long time, yet it can be mustered for the month of December. Given that there is total gridlock in many parts of Dublin, would the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform be best employed devoting his time to that?

With regard to the situation in Limerick, would the same Minister not be best employed focusing on serious crime? It is alleged the top five drug barons in the city were sent to the United States for training in arms and a man diligently doing his duty to prevent these gangsters furnishing drugs in a nightclub was murdered on his way home from work. This is so serious that it requires the focus of the Minister. Is it not time, now that we have moved from a Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to whom the workings of his Department were a mystery, to a Minister who is familiar with the mysteries of every Department except his own?

Defending and explaining Government policy is part of the duty of Ministers. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is well aware of the terrible act in Limerick and criminal activity involving drugs gangs, in particular. As Attorney General, he drafted tough legislation to deal with those issues. The legislation is in place to deal with breaking up drugs gangs but the lucrative business in which they are engaged drives them to undertake summary executions. That is a challenge for the Minister. The Minister, the Garda Commissioner and everybody else involved must do all they can to try to stop this activity in every way possible.

Operation Freeflow commenced on 1 December and will run to 6 January in the greater Dublin area. It will attempt to assist in managing traffic congestion in the Dublin region and improve public transport. It is undertaken annually only in December because of the amount of resources required. An enormous number of gardaí and a great deal of effort is put in by the director of traffic attached to Dublin City Council, local authorities, transport service providers and the Assistant Garda Commissioner, Mr. Hickey. This operation is actively pursued and, hopefully, their work will help the free flow of traffic, as it has done every year.