Two new offences of directing a criminal gang and being a member of such a gang are among a package of measures aimed at tackling organised crime to be brought before Cabinet tomorrow.
Attorney General Paul Gallagher is also understood to have cleared the way for the non-jury Special Criminal Court to be used for those charged with the new offences.
Outlining the proposed measures today, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern indicated he did not intend to introduce internment for criminal gang suspects.
Mr Ahern said: “We are proposing a new offence of involvement in criminal activity in association with a criminal gang with a maximum penalty of 15 years.”
He said the package will also include tougher penalties for those guilty of intimidating witnesses.
The new Criminal Justice Surveillance Bill, which was introduced in the Dáil earlier this month, also allows for garda surveillance gathered covertly to be used as evidence in court cases for the first time.
Yesterday, after an estimated 5,000 people took part in a march against gangland violence organised by Steve Collins, the father of Roy Collins who was murdered on April 9th, Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea said new proposals to tackle criminal gangs would be brought before Cabinet tomorrow.
Mr Collins told the crowd gathered in front of City Hall after the march that his family had organised the public rally in an effort to send out a message to the “thugs” who had destroyed their lives.
Thousands observed a minute’s silence at Merchant’s Quay before a lone uilleann piper played Limerick’s Lament. “This has been a traumatic time for our family, which we felt should not have gone without some kind of message to the thugs who have destroyed our lives and have let us down and have let the good name of Limerick down,” Mr Collins told the crowds.
“By your actions here today you have spoken and said we have had enough of the low-life mutants that have eaten into the fabric of our society like a cancer that must be cut out,” he added.
Calls by Mr Collins for new legislation to deal with gangland criminals, including the introduction of internment, were greeted with massive applause by the crowd.
He said internment would allow for between 50 to 100 people in criminal gangs to be taken off the streets of Limerick.