Legislation to allow for a gun amnesty and stricter penalties for firearms offences will be introduced within a fortnight, the Dáil was told.
Tánaiste Mary Harney confirmed that "in the next two weeks the Minister for Justice will bring forward amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill concerning firearms offences and an amnesty".
She made her comments during further sharp exchanges about the murder of Dublin woman Donna Cleary at a party when shots were fired at a house in Coolock, and the death in custody of the chief suspect.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny claimed the Government had failed to resource the Garda sufficiently to implement a bench warrant against the suspect. "She was gunned down by a criminal who should have been in jail," he said.
"He had a conviction, lost his appeal and there was a bench warrant for his arrest. The Government did not supply the resources to the Garda to implement the bench warrant. If it had been implemented, Donna Cleary would be alive."
He also called for the firearms legislation to be brought into the House next week and said Fine Gael "will facilitate the Government in putting through real, deterrent emergency legislation dealing with gun culture".
Ms Harney said "responsibility for this dreadful tragedy lies not with the Garda Síochána but with an evil and dangerous man".
She said there was a bench warrant for the suspect's arrest but no committal warrant. "There is a significant difference between a bench warrant to arrest somebody and a committal warrant to have somebody put in jail. The reason the woman is dead is not that the gardaí failed or do not have enough resources, but that we have too many dangerous and evil people in our midst."
In a sharply-worded attack, Mr Kenny said: "The fundamental point is that this Government is in a shambles while anarchy rules the streets. On Monday the Taoiseach said that murderers were getting out of prison after seven years. On Tuesday, he said murderers used to get out of prison after seven years and that a life sentence should mean life. Today, he says it is the fault of the Minister for Justice.
"The Minister is like a modern Pontius Pilate, washing his hands of all responsibility and blaming everyone from the judiciary to society to the House."
The Government was "strengthening laws, making more prison spaces available and greatly enhancing the resources available to the Garda Síochána", Ms Harney replied.
Later Labour leader Pat Rabbitte said that 12 of the 75 firearms murders committed over a six-year period had resulted in convictions. "The Taoiseach's response to this was that we needed a change in sentencing policy."
He asked the Tánaiste to clarify if the Government intended to bring forward legislation to change sentencing policy.
Ms Harney said "we have appropriate legislation" and the Taoiseach was "talking about the time when on average people served seven years for murder".
Since then "average sentences increased to 13 years and the current policy is 15 to 20 years".
Mr Rabbitte asked "what kind of country is governed by somebody who goes off on a befuddled meander when there is a public crisis, posing as some kind of casual bystander ruminating aloud?"
