Can the Taoiseach explain why in the Ireland of 2004, which his Government has had a considerable influence in shaping, a number of young men are so brutalised, twisted and mentally damaged that they will savagely murder a rival gang member while his child and partner sleep beside him under the roof of his mother, as happened this week in west Dublin? Why will such young men savagely slaughter an innocent man, a father of two, as he flees from them, as happened two weeks ago? How can such people leave a 74 year old pensioner, Mr. William Barkley from Donegal, in the revolting and appalling condition depicted in today's Evening Herald? Why, after almost eight years, has the Taoiseach allowed a situation to develop whereby the brutal murder of gang members is often greeted by ordinary, decent people, the backbone of those communities, who are frustrated, angry and fearful, with relief that there is one less individual to terrorise the neighbourhood and pose a danger to them and their children?

The Government policy has failed miserably to use the unprecedented resources available to transform those working-class neighbourhoods, still criminally neglected even if they are in the shadow of opulent new apartment blocks and the glass towers of major corporations. Life for many of the predominantly good people in these communities is fraught with tension and insecurity. Why has the Government failed in its policy to engage with that cohort of young people, a small minority, who are clearly dysfunctional from an early age and represent a serious menace to their neighbourhoods and communities?

The Government has failed to provide the resources to bring this about and it continues to do so. What genius in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform thought that the people of west Dublin would believe it a solution to throw up a few Garda checkpoints in their estates and have gardaí walking through the estates with horses? The problem is not confined to west Dublin. My Independent colleagues represent constituencies with many of the same needs. What is required are emergency resources in education, social services and psychological services to intervene dramatically to prevent this occurrence. Provision of emergency resources in community development to empower communities to take control of their neighbourhoods is the key.

How does the Government think that Blanchardstown, a city, so to speak, of 70,000 people, can be covered by a handful of community gardaí? Does the Taoiseach not realise that what people demand is not high profile stunts but large numbers of community gardaí working side by side with local people under the direction of local representative organisations? That is what is critically needed. I want to hear the Taoiseach's response on this matter. The position I outlined is not only the case in parts of Dublin, it also pertains in many neighbourhoods, cities and towns throughout the country and also in rural communities.

The Deputy asked a number of questions, which I will answer in two ways. He mentioned gangland killings and referred to the need for local development, social exclusion programmes, educational programmes for the disadvantaged, early intervention schemes to target young people at risk and the need to work with organisations in the statutory and voluntary sectors such as Barnardos and others. The State resources these organisations to help them to look after people across the system who are dysfunctional at an early age and to provide them with the necessary assistance for their rehabilitation. Community development support programmes are funded by enormous amounts of taxpayers' money, taxpayers being the people to whom the Deputy referred. In education alone this year, more than €50 million has been allocated to provide for the educationally disadvantaged and more than €20 million has been allocated to community development programmes. Such programmes are targeted mainly at people who, as the Deputy rightly said, constitute a small number of families in a small number of areas who, either through no fault of their own or through circumstances of being influenced by others, require that kind of assistance. Professional people ranging from clinical psychologists to teachers to individuals working with people under stress work hard in many areas.

Unfortunately, my experience is that such programmes do not cover the category of people who wish to be involved in gangland attacks. They are normally groups who believe there is a way other than the normal route to make it rich. They are normally not dysfunctional but clever, smart and not drug takers or abusers of alcohol. They are willing to operate whatever system is necessary or to undertake themselves or through others whatever violence is necessary to make unlawful gains. Unfortunately, we have seen the results of some of those events. We have not seen too many gangland killings this year. The gangland killing over the weekend was only the second, although there have been murders in other areas.

With the large number of gardaí in this country compared with police forces operating in other countries of our size, the Garda has specialist forces in these areas which are well resourced and use the modern technology available to try to break these gangs. Deputy Joe Higgins is aware of the feud in the area in question and that some of the people involved, who come from different areas, are well known, have been involved for a long time and are experienced in criminal activities in this city. This is an operational matter for the Garda which is using considerable resources to deal with these issues.

What confidence can the decent people in the communities in this estate have that the Government has a solution to address these issues when the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform can glibly say that this is merely the dying sting of a wasp or when in a prominent street in the Taoiseach's constituency there is an open market for cocaine and heroin about which he must know? What confidence can they have when a society is fostered where inequalities are allowed to increase and the necessary resources are not invested in sufficient measures to provide for those who, for social and historic reasons, have been left behind and, unfortunately, among a brutalised minority there emerges the kind of nihilism that wreaks havoc on the community? Those are the issues that need to be addressed. They will not be resolved by the equivalent of Operation Freeflow as we approach Christmas. That will not resolve the issues. Fundamental, structural adjustments and emergency resources are required to fund grassroots community activists and organisations to assist them to take control of their communities. Will the Government make those resources available?

In respect of all the issues to which the Deputy referred, if he were to give credit to what is being done with the resources being spent, I could take him seriously and say we should do more, and I would not oppose that. The Deputy is aware that we invest tens of millions of taxpayers' money in local development social inclusion programmes. We invest enormous amounts in community development support programmes. We have invested almost €100 million in the young people's facilities and services fund. Resources are being invested to provide for the educationally disadvantaged. We resource various voluntary organisations which require funding to provide for early intervention in the case of children. We are also providing social housing and social facilities in these areas. I agree with such measures.

However, we should not let all of that mask the situation. There are groups of people whom the Deputy and I know and of whom we are not proud who are gangsters, thugs and criminals and who do not need the help of any of these interventions. The Deputy rightly said that there are people in my area and his area who operate activities to make large amounts of money to maintain properties in Spain, Amsterdam and elsewhere. If we were tough enough and strong enough, we would stand up to some of these people, as the Deputy does in his area and I regularly do in my area, but these people operate with immunity on many occasions.

Gardaí do their best. My only regret, given the number of years I have been trying to address this problem, is that we are so easy on these people. We believe that a garda going out with a book and a pencil will deal with these people and, if a garda were to hit the wrong one, he would be up before a board under the disciplinary code. This is unfair to the Garda force. How in the name of God can a garda with a pencil and a book deal with people who——

Deputy Costello knows very well what we are faced with. We are up against hardened criminals who are not in the same category as disadvantaged people.

The Taoiseach is in a position to do something about that.

We are up against fairly ruthless people.

What will be done?

I am all for helping people, but let us not be mistaken about this. We are up against tough hardened criminals and we know what they are about.