Over the weekend two more young men were shot dead, one in Ronanstown and one in Newcastle. That brings to 150 the number of gun murders which have occurred in the State since the Taoiseach took office in 1997. The Garda is expressing concern that the gun murders over the weekend could lead to a further spate of killings. We have had 150 gun murders so far since the Taoiseach took office.

Before he took office in 1997 the Taoiseach said at the Fianna Fáil Ard-Fheis in April 1997: "I will make the fight against crime my first priority in a new Fianna Fáil Government. He went on to say he had a message for the drug barons and the criminal gangs. He said: "Our plan is to arrest you, prosecute you and put you in jail". Of the 150 gun murders that have occurred in the State since the Taoiseach came to office, how many convictions have been secured?

Recently we saw a number of very successful operations carried out by the Garda to deal with gangland crime. I acknowledge the considerable efforts of the Garda in this regard and I commend it on its successes which clearly prevented further murders and serious crimes.

We have had two murders in recent days and we had a number of murders last year also but there was a significant decrease on the previous year. It is the type of activity that the Garda is involved in that is preventing more murders, under Operation Anvil in particular, which deals with these gangs. We deplore the killings of the two men on Thursday and Saturday. Every time there is a murder of any kind we deplore it, such as the murders in Drimnagh of the two Polish citizens the previous week.

Recent CSO figures indicate there were 84 homicides, 78 murders and six manslaughters here last year. While that was an increase of 25% in total numbers over 2006 the gang-related killings do not account for that. Killings under that heading are completely unacceptable but the murder rate is something the Garda has to keep on tackling. According to Garda records, most of the murders last year were of a domestic nature and related to different events with drugs and alcohol being the key components. Prosecutions for these crimes is almost 100%. In gangland crime it is not good.

How bad is it?

What is the figure?

I do not have the overall figure, but witness protection is an extremely difficult issue, as the Deputy knows, because he has raised it here. I have raised it again with the commissioner. Although he is not convinced, he has enhanced the system. The difficulty is that, even when badly injured, criminals will not participate in normal surveillance and intelligence gathering. This is the case even when the individuals are known to the Garda. As we have seen recently, even seriously injured individuals who know who tried to kill them will not co-operate. That is a serious issue for the Garda which has informed me and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Brian Lenihan, that it has the legal powers but cannot force people to do so, that it can only continue its legal surveillance intelligence activity and question people to try to get this information. This is a serious problem for gardaí; they know the gangs, on which they have good intelligence, but where there are crimes between gangs, their modus operandi is not to speak. Gardaí freely tell us that is a difficulty for them. In other areas they do not have that problem. They also say this problem of not co-operating is bigger in Dublin than elsewhere. In other parts of the country they can break down these issues but in the greater Dublin area it is a difficulty, even with the intelligence gathered under Operation Anvil. Providing the number of gardaí and detectives from the specialised unit involved in sitting in the middle and trying to stop some of the gangs from engaging in criminal acts against each other is very costly.

Is that zero tolerance?

We have allocated €20 million to that activity this year. While it will not solve past murder cases, it will prevent others. A number of such operations take place in the greater Dublin area, not just today but some for the last two or three years.

With respect, the Taoiseach went way over time in avoiding answering the question. He says he does not have the figure for the number of convictions, which I find amazing given that he has a figure for every possible question that might be asked during Leaders' Questions. My question was: of the 150 gun murders committed in the State since the Taoiseach took office, how many convictions have been made? To help the Taoiseach, I have done a tot and come to a figure of 24 out of 150, approximately one in six. Is that correct? Is it true? Can he admit to the people that of the 150 savage gun murders that have occurred since he took office, only one in six perpetrators has been caught and put away?

I accept there are difficulties, some of which the Taoiseach alluded to, of people not talking and being afraid to give evidence. This is why the Labour Party proposed two legislative measures that we have been asking the Government to implement since the Dáil resumed last September, namely, the witness protection legislation and the Garda surveillance Bill. These would give the Garda the additional powers of surveillance it needs to put the criminal gangs away and provide protection for those who give evidence against them.

Will the Taoiseach, at least, do the House and the country a service by admitting that the figure is only one in six convictions, 24 out of 150, and take on board the measures the Labour Party proposed to deal with this problem? We cannot continue with the situation where murders take place week in week out. There is barely a weekend when one of these gangland, gun-related, drug-related killings does not takes place and it cannot continue. There is a need to deal with it and I ask the Taoiseach to do so by taking on board the Labour Party's proposals. I also ask him, as a man who has a figure for every question, to acknowledge that the number of convictions is only 24 out of 150.

I have no problem giving the figure for a ten-year period.

Good.

I am told that in respect of gangland crime, organised criminal gangs mainly involved in drug trafficking, the number of convictions is very low.

The figure is 24 out of 150.

I do not deny that figure and the legislation is not the reason. Gardaí say they have strong legislation, dedicated detective units, high levels of resources and considerable overtime and manpower reserves. They have the special protection programmes. While Deputy Gilmore has an issue on the legislation, the commissioner does not believe they require anything more than they have. The problem is that even when the lives of individuals are under threat, individuals have been injured and there is intelligence that they are open to being attacked by hitmen, they will not co-operate with the Garda. It is not a lack of legislative power, a witness protection programme or resources. In these instances the Garda is obliged, as it is at several locations, to have 24/7 by 365 security to stop some of the groups engaging in violence against each other and, by extension, engaging in criminal activities in the community. That is why it costs so much of taxpayers' money. It is a very costly activity for the Garda, but it significantly decreased the number of gangland deaths in 2007. When talking about deaths, I am never happy to say the number has decreased because it is not good to have any.

The Garda Commissioner's latest statement is that he will continue the assessments under Operation Anvil of the groups involved in gangland crimes. The Criminal Assets Bureau is involved in dealing with the proceeds of such crimes, including through liaison between it and the various Garda divisions which takes place every other day. In many such cases court proceedings do not work because nobody will give evidence. That, not the intelligence, is the reason for the lack of convictions. I have been at security briefings where gardaí have outlined whom they believe is responsible, but unless we have very draconian laws, which none of us wants to have, we cannot stop it. That is the reality. The Garda must continue its efforts. It has had some good successes in breaking gangs recently and we must continue to support its efforts to break more.

That is an awful admission of defeat.