Minister seeking gangland crackdown

Legislation is being introduced to clamp down on Ireland’s gangland culture and improve the criminal justice system, it was announced today.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell said he was examining the definitions of being a member of a gang in EU and UN legislation with a view to bringing forward new laws in Ireland.

He said that the lengthy wait of up to 12 years for a defendant to be bought to trial was “wholly unacceptable”.

Mr McDowell told the Oireachtas Justice Committee that no one sentenced to life in prison should be released in under 12 years.

“The great majority of murder cases should not result in any temporary release programme kicking into effect at less than 15 to 20 years,” he said.

“There is a public perception that life really doesn’t mean anything very substantial at all.”

The Minister said that in Ireland people were released on bail in “very liberal circumstances” compared to other common law countries.

“We have a very relaxed culture in relation to the preparation of the Book of Evidence,” he said.

He also promised that within the next year, the gardaí will reach its full potential of 12,200 officers.

Asked about the delay between the time when a crime was detected and when the person was brought to trial, he said he would address the issue.

“It is wholly unacceptable that there should be any substantial waiting lists of the kind we have at the moment,” he said.

Plans are underway to build a dedicated criminal court building in Dublin, he said.

The question of destroying DNA samples held on personal records should be reconsidered, the Minister told the Committee.

He said he was “wholly unimpressed” by the notion of the destruction of any samples at all.

“I really don’t believe that my civil liberties are in any way improved if I am arrested for an offence whether my saliva sample is kept in a fridge or whether it is destroyed,” he said.

The Committee was asking Mr McDowell for a response regarding a number of issues raised and recommendations made during the hearings by several relevant groups and bodies including the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Law Society of Ireland and Victim Support.

The Committee will produce a comprehensive report on the matter in the coming weeks, said chairman Sean Ardagh.