A Minister of State has said that senior gardaí on the border let down directors at Quinn Industrial Holdings (QIH).

Michael D'Arcy, a Minister of State at the Department of Finance described the attack on Kevin Lunney as and "outrage" and "hideous".

The junior minister told RTÉ's The Week in Politics that the attack on Mr Lunney should have been dealt with "sooner and better at that level" by senior gardaí.

He added: "There are senior gardaí, in those divisions, in those areas, who let those gentlemen down".

He said that it was "very clear" the QIH directors were disappointed, adding: "The disappointment was on the ground, in relation to the policing that happened."

Minister for state @michaeldarcy says the responsibility to deal with QIH threats lay with divisional gardaí. #rtetwip will be rebroadcast at 11.25pm on @RTEOne. #rtepolitics pic.twitter.com/RLPr9Vblhf — The Week in Politics (@rtetwip) November 10, 2019

Meanwhile, Brendan Smith - a Fianna Fáil TD for Cavan-Monaghan - said a special police taskforce is needed for the border region.

He said: "In the medium term and in the long term, the establishment of a dedicated cross-border crime prevention agency would bring success and reduce dramatically these crimes, be it illicit trade in smuggling, be it human trafficking or the type of criminality that we have witnessed unfortunately over the past number of weeks."

Last Tuesday, Mr Lunney recounted how

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The Co Fermanagh businessman’s abduction hit the headlines in September after he was found bleeding on a remote roadside after being dumped in Co Cavan.

Speaking publicly for the first time about his abduction, the QIH director said he dragged his injured body across country roads fearing he would die before he could be rescued.