Labour slams Govt failure to tackle crime gangs

The Labour Party has launched an attack on Minister for Justice Michael McDowell over his failure to tackle gangland criminals in Dublin.

The attack follows a pipe-bomb explosion outside the home of a second-hand car dealer in the Coolock area of the city last night.

Labour TD Joe Costello said today that the incident showed the Government was failing to take appropriate action to stamp out gangland violence.

"The method of dealing with gangland activity has been very much an ad-hoc business almost funded entirely from Garda overtime," he said.

"You really need a very dedicated unit with all the technology and the resources that are available in the modern world to deal with matters of this nature."