GOVERNMENT anti crime proposals will "tip the balance against the criminal", the Minister for Justice told the criminal justice conference in Malahide, Co Dublin, yesterday.
Mrs Owen said there was a need for a "measured" response to concerns about crime but stated that the Government was responding.
There was a public perception that the "scales were tipped in favour of the criminal".
"We have heard some people say that some criminals are `untouchable'.
"I can assure you all that the Government takes the problem of organised crime very seriously and I believe that the package of anti crime measures which I recently announced will tip the balance against the criminal.
"We are fully aware that organised crime poses a serious threat to the security of the State and to decent law abiding citizens. We are absolutely determined to tackle the problem of organised crime and have taken a number of important steps to achieve this," Mrs Owen said.
"The history of our State, of indeed any state, is punctuated by crises of varying kinds which threaten society in various ways".
"It is essential that the State should be empowered to respond in a measured way to such crises in the general public interest. I emphasis the word `measured' because, while we must respond appropriately to crises as they arise, we must never, at the same time, overstep the mark to an extent which does violence to the long term preservation of fundamental rights and freedoms which is so critical to the maintenance of a free, democratic society.
"At the present time, the wellbeing of our citizens is under threat from particular forms of crime.
"Put simply, what is happening is that unscrupulous elements within our society are abusing rights and liberties to a degree which is seriously threatening the well being of the majority.
"The public interest demands that the State and all its agencies should respond to this threat. The Government, on behalf of the people, is doing just that."