Membership of a crime gang, or knowingly providing assistance to one, will be made an offence under new legislation being drawn up to fight the upsurge in organised crime.
The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, said a key element in framing the legislation would be establishing a definition of gang membership and that he was examining definitions in other countries as well as EU and UN laws.
He told the Oireachtas Committee on Justice today of a range of measures under consideration including the permanent retention of DNA samples from suspects.
"I really don't believe that my civil liberties are in any way improved if I am arrested for an offence whether my saliva sample is kept in a fridge or whether it is destroyed," he said.
Anyone sentenced to life should stay in prison for 12 years Mr McDowell told the Committee adding that "the great majority of murder cases should not result in any temporary release programme kicking into effect at less than 15 to 20 years".
"There is a public perception that life really doesn't mean anything very substantial at all," he said.
The Committee will produce a comprehensive report on the matter in the coming weeks.