Where are the Ministers?

Where are the members of the Government?

Only a piece of the Government has been dragged in.

They are in exile.

That is true. They are on the "Pat Kenny Show".

This is three days in a row.

Deputy Kenny without interruption.

We have a skeleton Government.

I ask that members of the Fine Gael Party allow their leader to put his question without interruption.

In the words of Donna Cleary's family, she was not in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was a young mother enjoying herself at a friend's party. She was gunned down by a criminal who should have been in jail. No one has explained why this man was not in jail. He had a conviction, lost his appeal and there was a bench warrant for his arrest. The Government did not supply the resources to the Garda to implement the bench warrant. If it had been implemented, Donna Cleary would be alive. The fundamental point is that this Government is in a shambles while anarchy rules the streets.

On Monday, the Taoiseach said that murderers were getting out of prison after seven years. On Tuesday, he said murderers used to get out of prison after seven years and that a life sentence should mean life. Today, he says it is the fault of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The Minister is like a modern Pontius Pilate, washing his hands of all responsibility and blaming everyone from the Judiciary to society to the House. Will the Tánaiste explain why the Minister has failed to introduce legislation on gun culture, which he correctly identified last year as being a serious issue? Where are the mandatory sentences for gun crime? Where is the amnesty for guns? Why was this criminal walking the streets when he should have been in jail and there was a bench warrant for his arrest?

I ask the Tánaiste to instruct the Minister to gather the details of the Criminal Justice Bill in so far as gun culture is concerned and present them to the House next week. We will facilitate the Government in putting through real, deterrent emergency legislation dealing with gun culture. We could enact this law in a very short time. It is a reasonable and practical suggestion that will send a clear message to people in this city who can leave a house and, in 20 minutes, have a loaded gun, fire it indiscriminately at a house and murder an innocent woman.

I recall times in the House when, on issues of much less import than this, the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism sitting beside the Tánaiste was in apoplexy.

That is right.

Hear, hear.

He blamed everybody for the woes afflicting the world. In this case, the Government is responsible for a situation in which resources were not made available to the Garda Síochána to implement a bench warrant for a convicted criminal who was walking the streets and responsible for the murder of an innocent woman who should be alive.

Words fail us all in seeking to describe the tragic and outrageous murder of Donna Cleary last weekend as she attended a private event in Dublin. Responsibility for this dreadful tragedy lies not with the Garda Síochána but with an evil and dangerous man. That is the reality.

He was walking the streets.

Why was he not behind bars?

He had to take personal responsibility. There was a bench warrant but no committal warrant. There is a significant difference between a bench warrant to arrest somebody and a committal warrant to have somebody put in jail. The reason the woman is dead is not that the Garda failed or does not have enough resources, but that we have too many dangerous and evil people in our midst.

It is the Government's responsibility to deal with it.

The Government is supposed to protect us from them.

What is the Government doing?

No Government has introduced more legislation in this area, as the Deputy knows.

We want action.

On law reform.

We have lots of action.

This should be debated here.

We have lost all law and order.

The Minister sticks his nose everywhere but in his own business.

Eight years ago——

I suggest the Tánaiste should answer Deputy Kenny's question. As leader of the Fine Gael Party, he was entitled to submit the question, not Deputy Allen. I ask that Fine Gael Deputies allow their leader to hear the answer to his question, to which he is entitled during Leaders' Questions.

In the next two weeks the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform will bring forward amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill concerning firearms offences and an amnesty, to which Deputy Kenny referred.

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has failed on two key performance indicators. Detection rates have decreased under his stewardship and the incidence of headline crimes is rising on an annual basis. If he survives until next year, he will have presided over 500,000 headline crimes during his tenure as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. This is an appalling shambles of which the Tánaiste is part.

As Deputy Rabbitte pointed out yesterday, only 12 of the 75 murders committed with weapons between 1998 and 2004 resulted in convictions. On 28 February the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform was unable to inform Deputy Jim O'Keeffe of the number of outstanding arrest warrants. I agree with the Tánaiste when she refers to evil and dangerous people but they should not be walking the streets. We do not blame an inadequately resourced police force that cannot implement bench warrants or committal warrants. Donna Cleary lies dead, God rest her soul, but she would be alive if this person had been in jail as he should have been. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, who is absent from the Chamber again today, wishes to wash his hands of all responsibility like some modern day Pontius Pilate.

I have made a practical suggestion. The Opposition has agreed to facilitate the Government if it wishes to deal with elements of gun legislation in the Criminal Justice Bill next week. We should deal with gun amnesties and mandatory jail sentences for gun possession. We should have a reaction that can be implemented rather than the Taoiseach stating one thing on Monday, something different on Tuesday and yesterday's Government spokesperson statement that no proposals exist to address this. Where are the consequences of the watershed to which the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform referred? What will the Government do? It seems the Minister's recent lecture is accurate except the sandwich has gone stale and the meat has gone off.

The current Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, his predecessor and the Government have a good record in this area.

Zero tolerance.

That is a laugh.

Eight years ago——

Talk about today, not eight years ago. What about now?

I wish to speak of the improvements that have taken place in resources and Garda manpower.

Where are the extra gardaí?

Eight years ago, 20% were released through the revolving door. That figure is now 2%.

Now they do not go to jail.

Eight years ago there were 10,000 gardaí, next year there will be 14,000 gardaí.

There is one shooting per day now.

Major adjustments have been made to the area of criminal justice and the Minister will be making amendments concerning arms in the next two or three weeks.

Donna Cleary was tragically gunned down because we have evil, dangerous people in our midst——

And the Tánaiste will not do anything about it.

——and that is why we are strengthening laws, making more prison spaces available and greatly enhancing the resources available to the Garda Síochána.

Why was the bench warrant not executed?

We will continue to do that and I hope to have the support of Members. I acknowledge we have had the support of Fine Gael.