Ms Nóirín O'Sullivan:

I thank the Deputy. It is something on which we have a huge focus. One of the recent initiatives I undertook was to amalgamate and establish a new focus on the Garda national drugs and organised crime units. It puts additional resources to targeting organised crime and drugs because in fact they are inextricably linked. The Garda national drugs and organised crime unit, which the committee has seen in recent times has had some significant successes, will also be co-ordinating the work of some of the local units in targeting the impacts of organised crime and drugs on local communities. I am very mindful of the issue of intimidation, in particular around drug deaths. I know there was significant work done by this committee in regard to that. That is something we are looking at.

We also have a significant input into the new phase of the national drug strategy. While it has a big impact in urban areas, we are making sure that all our members in local areas are looking at the impact of drugs in rural areas also. We are making sure this is co-ordinated by the Garda national drugs and organised crime unit to make sure that impacts are addressed in local communities. We are looking at it at national and international level, but very much at the local and regional level also. I spoke about the role of the detective superintendents in the regions and they will very much form part of that role in terms of intelligence-led operations, targeting also those people operating at the lower level.