We have all been appalled at the horrific violence and threats meted out to the staff and directors of Quinn Industrial Holdings in Cavan and at the barbaric, professional kidnapping and assault on Kevin Lunney.

At the weekend, one of the directors of Quinn Industrial Holdings, John McCartin, gave a wide-ranging interview to John Lee in the Irish Mail on Sunday. What Mr. McCartin had to say was worrying and telling. He was asked to explain how the threats were tolerated for so long. Many people in the country are asking that question because this has been going on for years. Mr. McCartin responded that "the pig's head was annoying, the posters were annoying, the defamation was annoying but as regards the physical threats to our lives, I wasn't taking it seriously because the guards weren't taking it seriously." He remarked that he had met named individuals who had threatened him, his children and family and had shared those names with the Garda and the authorities. He asserted that the Garda, the PSNI and the Government had paid "scant attention" to their pleas since the intimidation, arson and assaults reached new levels four and a half years ago. The big question hanging out there is why action was not taken earlier. I watched the Garda Commissioner last week attempt to answer a question on why the intimidatory posters were not taken down and there was no answer to that question. They were left up for a long time and, apparently, they have been taken down this week.

There is also the issue of jobs. There are 850 direct jobs in Quinn Industrial Holdings and 2,500 indirect jobs. The American investor has made the point that it will close down the business rather than be intimidated into selling it off. The issue is a very serious one in terms of the challenge to the State in the Border area. There have also been other attacks, including the shocking attack on the car belonging to Deputy Martin Kenny in County Leitrim, which are unacceptable.

I ask that the Taoiseach take a point I made some weeks ago a bit more seriously this time. He had a go at me and engaged in typical partisan stuff to the effect that I was just into creating agencies. I have long asserted that the rule of law is gone in the Border area, on both sides of the Border. The State has not been in control for some time and criminality reigns supreme. We need to fundamentally alter what we have been doing in relation to that. That means establishing a multidisciplinary joint agency, similar to the Criminal Assets Bureau, between the PSNI, An Garda Síochána and others. A task force will not cut it because statutory underpinning is needed. That would send a message once and for all to these warlords that enough is enough, we are not taking any more and we will assert the supremacy of the democratic State and law and order above and beyond anything else. Operation Loft, conducted by the Criminal Assets Bureau, indicated what is going on in the Border area. I am not exaggerating this issue, which has been ongoing for a long time. The point made by John McCartin is that there has been a vacuum since the Good Friday Agreement. Will the Taoiseach give my proposal serious consideration? Perhaps he will also give me an answer on why it took so long for the authorities to move and respond to the threats and intimidation.

I say again that the threats made to the directors of Quinn Industrial Holdings are totally unacceptable, as is the violence perpetrated against Kevin Lunney. It is a question of the rule of law. Law and order must prevail in all parts of the country. I met the Garda Commissioner, with the Minister for Justice and Equality, on this matter only last week. I spoke to John McCartin twice on the phone and I will speak to him again. He has been complimentary about the interest which the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Humphreys, and I have taken in this issue over a period. The Garda Commissioner is meeting the directors of Quinn Industrial Holdings today to discuss a number of ongoing investigations relating to these threats. The posters, as far as I am aware, have been removed. They had been removed previously, were put up again and have now been removed again. We have put additional resources into the Border area, including more than 100 additional gardaí in the past two years, extra Garda staff and a fully armed service unit for the Cavan area. The Garda Commissioner informs me that the level of resourcing will continue. On foot of our discussion, he will discuss with the PSNI how the Garda and PSNI can best work together on a joint investigation. I am not sure if a statutory agency is the best way for them to do so, as something like that takes a long time to establish, but I would not rule it out.

The best thing they can do is work together in a practical way if they have not been doing that adequately up to now. We discussed some other actions that could also be taken but perhaps it is best if they are not discussed in this open forum. This is, of course, primarily a Garda matter and something for the Garda to investigate south of the Border. It involves the PSNI as well.

I equally assert and put it to the Taoiseach that we must take the multi-agency approach. I remember when the late Ms Veronica Guerin was murdered, it was the catalyst for the establishment of the Criminal Assets Bureau and it had a very significant impact on the criminals at the time. It worked as it was a no holds barred approach to taking the criminals out of circulation and not being in a position where they could usurp the State, as they have been doing in this area for far too long. In the process they have undermined the capacity of law-abiding citizens to go about their business free of intimidation and the capacity of businesses to continue doing what they do best in creating products and jobs.

Mr. John McCartin said the Taoiseach called him and expressed outrage about what is happening, frustration about how long it is has been happening and surprise that in modern Ireland, this has gotten so far. He suggests the Taoiseach and Minister for Justice and Equality were blind-sided. Before the question about a multi-agency approach, I asked why it took so long to deal even with the public manifestations of these threats, such as the signage, as well as the threats to individual directors that have been ongoing for quite some time. Will the Taoiseach explain why it took so long for the authorities to respond to those?

I am not in a position to answer questions on behalf of the Garda Commissioner or the Garda. The Deputy would have to put that question directly to them and I am sure they would be happy to answer it.

The Taoiseach met the Garda Commissioner last week.

Has he forgotten already?

As the Deputy knows, a statutory agency would require legislation both north and south of the Border. That may be impossible currently for the various reasons that the Deputy knows.

We proposed it two years ago.

It could take much time. We need practical co-operation between the PSNI and the Garda. Perhaps there could be a joint investigation; I discussed this with the Garda Commissioner and he said he would examine the practicalities of doing this. That can be done quite quickly. We need more resources in the Border region for the Garda, and that is being done. An extra 100 gardaí have been added to the force there in the past two years, there are extra Garda staff and there is a new armed support unit. We will build on that. We can see the action being taken now with the posters being removed. Action is being taken on all these fronts and this is something we take very seriously. It is about restoring law and order in the area and giving people confidence that the peace will be kept. Progress is being made in these investigations. There has been an arrest relating to the attack on Deputy Martin Kenny's property. There has been an arrest relating to the attack on the Garda station at Emyvale. Work is being done by gardaí and we need to support them. I also ask anyone with information to give it to the Garda or PSNI so they can take further action.