Barry Cowen and organised crime tweet
Deputy Ward criticises a tweet by Deputy Barry Cowen that appeared to eulogise Larry Dunne and asks whether the Taoiseach stands over it. The Taoiseach rejects the suggestion of glorifying organised crime and says drug crime must be tackled through both health and justice responses.
Page 95 of the programme for Government states the Government will continue to work with the Garda on tackling and interrupting organised crime. I want to ask about a tweet sent out over the weekend by Fianna Fáil Deputy, Barry Cowen, that eulogised the man held responsible by many people for flooding Dublin with heroin in the 1980s. The tweet stated, "Reminded of Larry Dunne famously remarking 'if you think we're bad, wait till you see what's coming after us'". The heroin epidemic wiped out large parts of Dublin and whole generations of young people in the 1980s. Many grandmothers were left rearing their grandchildren because their own children were wiped out by this scourge. Does the Taoiseach stand over the comments made by Deputy Barry Cowen? How does he feel about Fianna Fáil being likened to an organised crime gang with him as the leader? Will he instruct Deputy Cowen to do a U-turn on this matter?
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Tackling and interrupting organised crime instead of glorifying and interrupting organised crime.
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Context is everything. I do not think anyone is glorifying organised crime. It is not on that the Deputy has suggested Deputy Cowen or anybody was glorifying organised crime. That is just not on. For whatever cheap political points the Deputy wants to score, it is just not on to be suggesting that. We could all throw things back with regard to glorifying criminality, murder and mayhem. The Deputy should look into his own cupboard and be a bit more-----
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Does the Taoiseach stand over the comments?
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Drug crime is one of the worst horrors to visit an individual, community or society. We have to deal with drug abuse, drug trafficking and criminality around drugs in a multidimensional way, first, with regard to those who suffer from addiction with a healthcare-based approach. With regard to criminals we should take a very strong justice approach involving the Special Criminal Court and every arm at the disposal of the State to put those people behind bars. Criminals should be put behind bars. People who peddle drugs should be put behind bars.