A Mayo Dáil deputy has expressed his shock and dismay at the failure of Government to introduce regulations requiring the registration of all mobile phones as a means of curbing the activities of drug barons who use untraceable and unregistered telephones.
Deputy Michael Ring, the Fine Gael Spokesperson on Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, was further frustrated by the response he received from the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern, when he raised the matter in the Dáil.
He had posed a question asking the Minister what progress had been made in relation to the Programme for Government proposal to require all mobile phones to be registered with name, address and proof of identity.
The Minister responded: “Insofar as my Department has responsibility in relation to the matters referred to by the deputy, consultations are taking place with An Garda Síochána with a view to progressing this matter.”
Dep Ring said a commitment was given by the Fianna Fáil/Progressive Democrat/Green Party Government that all mobile telephones would be registered with the name, address and proof of identity of the purchaser.
He continued: “This would in turn stop drug pushers using untraceable, unregistered telephones. This promise was given by the Government and to date, they have done nothing on it. We should be making every effort to try and stop drug pushers in the country from continuing their activities.
“This requirement should be introduced immediately. If the Government is serious about cracking down on crime and particularly drug-related crime, they should have this requirement introduced by now. They are in government now over a year and have not any legislation introduced for this. The only thing they have done so far is talk to the Garda Siochana with a view to doing something with the matter. This is not acceptable. We expected more to be done on this,” concluded Dep Ring.
