Shortages 'allowing drug dealers to walk free' - Shatter

A lack of staff at the Forensic Science Laboratory is allowing many drug dealers to walk free because drug samples cannot be analysed in time for prosecutions to be brought, Fine Gael's justice spokesman Alan Shatter claimed today.

"The Minister's failure to prioritise the laboratory's needs - and the fact that staff have been forced to take industrial action from the March 4 - once again exposes the superficiality of the Minister's so called 'Zero Tolerance' policy," said Deputy Shatter.