AN angry Minister for Justice lashed out in the Seanad yesterday at critics, among them members of the Oireachtas, who believed little was being done at official level to combat the drug crisis.
The Minister, Mrs Nora Owen, speaking on a motion to approve draft regulations under the Criminal Justice Act, said there seemed to be a certain amount of ignorance, not only in the public's "mind but among members of the Oireachtas themselves, about the facilities in place dealing with money laundering by drug barons.
"Even while I speak, the assets of these people are being frozen," she said. "The power and legislation is there. We have 300 cases already under investigation by the gardai of suspicious lodgings of money and the money involved amounts to about £23 million."
Senator Michael Mulcahy (FF) said that while the Minister seemed to lecture members of both Houses of the Oireachtas on not knowing what was going on, the Government had not yet accepted that there was a crime crisis in our country.
Speaking during the order of business, the leader of the Seanad, Senator Maiirice Manning, said that following the horrific assassination of Veronica Guerin, they must ensure that all possible resources to fight these crime lords were available and that the balance of advantage in the war against crime shifts from the criminal to the wider community.
The Seanad adjourned until this morning at 10.30 a.m.