Last week we had another brutal assassination on our streets, one of a litany of serious gun crimes that have happened while Deputy Varadkar has been Taoiseach. In this case it involved a person going to work at 6.30 a.m. – one of the people whom the Taoiseach is supposed to admire - who was gunned down in cold blood. Can further legislative or security steps be taken to reach out to manufacturers of guns in the rest of the EU, the US or wherever else? This is a serious event that has traumatised part of my constituency and that of the Minister, Deputy Bruton. Stringent action is required. There are still complaints about the lack of community gardaí. We hear a lot of fine words at committees and in other fora but the situation still arises, following the criticism of Mr. Justice Charleton that An Garda Síochána can be mainly invisible at times. What reaction will there be to this dastardly event?

I assure the Deputy and the House that the Government takes gun crime particularly seriously. I keep in regular contact with An Garda Síochána, which enjoys the full support of this House. That is evidenced by record investment of in excess of €1.7 billion in the force. I assure the Deputy that we keep our legislative programme under review. In the event of there being any tighter legislative initiatives, we would be happy to hear from the Deputy or any other Deputy. These are issues of grave seriousness and I assure the House that every effort is being made by An Garda Síochána to tackle crime.