Sir, - The Criminal Assets Bureau, the multi-agency group which has led the campaign against the drug pushers and crime bosses, should now be allowed to release the £13 million confiscated in the last four years into the communities most at risk. This money would go a long way in helping communities and voluntary groups to fight back against years of neglect.
The money should be spent directly on services for drug addicts, grants to their parents and grandparents, youth facilities, grants for community halls, buses for primary schools and direct payments to the elderly that have suffered because of the drug crisis.
If we were to start by spending immediately the estimated £1.3 million seized last year under the Proceeds of Crime Act, people on the ground would know that we are anxious about tackling the crime bosses and helping local communities. It would also be a fitting memory to Veronica Guerin. Let's start now. - Yours, etc.,
Cllr Finian McGrath, Griffith Avenue, Dublin 9.