The Government is considering new legislation which would allow gardaí plant bugging devices in the homes and vehicles of known gangland criminals, Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan has said.
The plans were being considered jointly by officials at his department and senior Garda management because of the "immense" pressure now on the force from the "unprecedented number" of organised gangs in Dublin and other cities.
However, Mr Lenihan said despite recent gangland shootings he did not accept the fight against gangland crime was being lost.
"There seems to be a suggestion that people are not being brought to justice but there are record numbers in our prisons," he said.
"The focus has been, very narrowly but understandably, on the whole question of gangland homicides and the fact that the detection rate is poor. But it's a fact that the persons involved are under relentless pressure from the gardaí and quite a few of them have been jailed on other charges."
He said while the bugging by gardaí of criminals' homes, cars and other locations was being considered it was a complex area. By using bugged and intercepted conversations as evidence in prosecutions, the force ran the risk of alerting criminals to Garda investigative techniques.
Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy said the concept of a "war on gangland crime" was a misnomer. Organised crime was evolving and it fell to the Garda to ensure its tactics changed accordingly.
Mr Lenihan said detections for drug dealing were up while burglaries and deaths on the roads were down. He was speaking at a passing out ceremony at the Garda College, Templemore, Co Tipperary. Some 281 new gardaí graduated, the biggest new class in the history of the force.
Mr Lenihan also published his policing priorities for the Garda next year. These are published annually by the Minister and include all of the crime categories the Government believes the force should prioritise.
Tackling organised crime remains the top priority, followed by domestic and international terrorism and road traffic law enforcement. Combating public order, including significantly increased levels of knife crime, has also been identified as a priority. When asked to identify new initiatives in the broad policing priorities, Mr Lenihan said: "The big new initiative is that investment in the gardaí is at an all-time high and investment in overtime is at an all-time high."
In relation to gangland crime, he had asked that the Criminal Assets Bureau (Cab) target even minor drug dealers in an effort to send a message to the community that drug dealing at any level would not be tolerated. He believed there were 10 or 12 organised gangs in Dublin with smaller numbers in other cities such as Limerick.
Mr Conroy, who retires in three weeks and was speaking at his last passing-out ceremony, said while organised crime was attracting much media attention it was not a new phenomenon.
The 1970s and 1980s had seen high levels of armed robberies. The major problem now is the abuse of drugs and the fact that criminals were shooting each other dead. "If we did not have people abusing drugs we would not have these crime gangs," Mr Conroy said.
Eighty five per cent of organised crime was related to drugs. The public must decide if they want to live in a culture of drug abuse. Despite this, he believed the levels of violence did not warrant the force being armed