Joe O'Toole (Independent)

It is important to remind ourselves how world views can change so rapidly. This is germane to the points just made by Senator Brian Hayes. Innocuous as it may seem, one of the papers laid before the House and listed on today's Order Paper might remind us of distant events which occurred all of nine months ago. It contains names about which we no longer hear now that President Bush has decided to focus his attention on another part of the world. The paper in question, No. 33, relates to the prohibition of financial transfers to Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda and the Taliban of Afghanistan. Senators will remember those people. They were main players on the world stage a short time ago. They were the people that were going to threaten the security of the world. They are no longer convenient and we are now looking at somewhere else in the world. That is another reason the points raised by Senator Hayes should be addressed. There needs to be some sense of logic to what we are doing.

Before the recess I made reference to crime, especially in the city of Limerick, and highlighted the fact that the particularly horrific murder of a security guard should have been afforded the same level of importance as the shooting of Veronica Guerin in Dublin. This is opening the floodgates for those who believe they are above and beyond the law, who can do as they wish and who can take life at a whim. Everything we have seen has proven that point. It is not my intention to make a political point. Yesterday, I listened to a radio interview with Limerick's chief superintendent. He was one of the most impressive speakers on that issue I have heard for a long time and he knew what he was doing.

We should give a clear signal to the people of Limerick and other places that this is an issue of national concern and importance. For most Members the question is not whether the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy O'Dea, was asked for resources, but whether enough is being done or if further action is needed to prevent the problem spreading around the country. Violent crime, by which I mean murder, has increased to levels beyond our worst expectations.

I wish to correct an inadvertent error I made on the final day of the last session when I neglected to offer my thanks to the Leader and Deputy Leader of the House for their extraordinary work during the session. Having looked back at the record, I am embarrassed by my failure to do so.