Michael Conaghan (Dublin South Central, Labour)

I am grateful to Deputies Costello and Dowds for sharing their time. The recent UN report on drug related deaths is a very stark warning based on evidence of the number of drug related deaths. Ireland is at twice the EU average for drug related deaths. These shocking statistics must prompt us to look again at strategies and ways of tackling the situation, to which the UN report draws attention.

I too believe, like my colleagues and many other Members, that the Drug Treatment Court programme can be a key part of such a strategy. There are short and straightforward explanations as to how the strategy works but its simplicity should not belie its vast potential. The Drug Treatment Court programme is currently under-used and under-valued. We believe that the strategy and the scheme offers real opportunities to avoid the cycle of drug addiction, crime and imprisonment and in its place, those who are selected to participate learn new strategies and new skills and are offered opportunities, perhaps leading to job opportunities and breaking the cycle and living clean. It has a great deal to commend it.

We are appealing to the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, to look at the geography of where the scheme operates and to extend the scheme and work towards including a broader geographic part of the city in it. We ask him to use the scheme, with all its potential, because like the other Deputies, I believe that the proper rolling out of the scheme can save the lives of young people and help to break the cycle of drug related deaths.

See this speech in context