Organised crime had taken on an "added impetus in recent times" in the Republic and the widespread use of cocaine is now of "particular concern", according to the Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne. Conor Lally, in Galway, reports
However, Mr Byrne yesterday rejected calls by the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) for the establishment of a new Organised Crime Unit within the force to tackle "increasingly arrogant", armed and dangerous gangs.
"If I felt there was a need for such a unit I would have introduced it myself," Mr Byrne said at the AGSI's annual conference in Galway yesterday. Despite the fact that six people have lost their lives in the Republic so far this year in suspected gangland killings Mr Byrne believes the gardaí have all the resources they need to tackle organised crime.
He said the force had been "very successful" in this area in the past, adding there would shortly be developments in the investigations into this year's unsolved gangland killings.
Organised crime was dynamic by nature, was businesslike and highly flexible. Drugs, trafficking in human beings, fraud and cybercrime all resulted from the internationalisation of crime.
While the serious crime situation in Limerick along with security at Shannon Airport had "eaten up resources", expenditure on overtime in the current year was slightly down on what it was 12 months ago.
Despite unrest within the ranks of the AGSI on the planned full roll-out of the penalty points system, Mr Byrne said he does not believe the system is under threat.
He insisted that the Government and gardaí were not on a "collision course" over penalty points, as many mid-ranking gardaí believe.
"If we have difficulties in this area then we will iron them out. I am not concerned that we will have a major problem with this in the future."
He expected the new computer system, which will process penalty points, to come on stream in about 12 months. Violence and public order offences "tend to make the headlines" but over 80 per cent of headline recorded crime is property related, much of which was committed in order to feed drug addiction.
"One area of particular concern at this time is the growth in prevalence and widespread use of cocaine, as the increase in number and quantity of seizures will testify," he told AGSI delegates.
Public order crime intimidated people and made them fearful of walking in certain areas alone. Much of that crime was drink-related and he supported calls for a change in Irish attitudes to the abuse of alcohol.
While he had listened to the concerns of Garda representative associations on the shortage of resources he operated within the "constrained environment of a finite budget".
"Managing the policing function, now more so than ever before, demands hard decision making and prioritisation," he said.