Co-Chairman (Deputy David Stanton):

I thank the representatives for the presentation. It is very timely, and the work they are doing is very important given that we are dealing with life-and-death issues. Along with Deputy McGrath and two other colleagues, I recently visited Portugal, which is on the real front line. While we were there we engaged with the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. I will read into record what one of them said to us:

New psychoactive substance (NPS or 'new drugs', often sold as 'legal highs') were detected in the EU last year at the rate of around two per week. A total of 101 new substances were reported ... in 2014 (up from 81 substances in 2013), continuing an upward trend in substances notified in a single year. This brings the total number of substances being monitored by the agency to over 450, with more than half of that figure being identified in the last three years alone.

What they told us is that there are labs in third countries where highly qualified people - people with PhDs - are manufacturing these substances and churning them out. The issue we have here, from a justice point of view, is the arrival on the market in Europe, Ireland or wherever of something that is not on our list. They have changed some chemical in it and it is a different substance. It is so difficult, as Deputy Finian McGrath would agree, to keep track of that. The other thing that is playing an increasing role is the Internet. The idea of somebody dealing in the back corner is old hat. There is the deep web, the dark web, and hidden transactions using Bitcoin. It is hugely complicated and a major challenge for policing across Europe and in Ireland, as well as for our health services. It is not simple. It is a multi-million-euro business, billions in fact. These are powerful and wealthy organisations - multinational drug cartels - dealing with this stuff. The growth of online virtual drug markets poses a major challenge to law enforcement and drug control policies, as stated in the report.

Existing regulatory bodies need to be adapted to perform in a global and virtual context. What the representatives are presenting to us today is a microcosm of a larger national and European issue that is growing. I do not think we are equipped to deal with it. Our thinking is back in the 20th century, whereas these guys have moved on to the 21st century. We have got to get away from the idea of somebody dealing and handling stuff. It has gone beyond that at this stage. We were told in Portugal that they are putting this substance in the post. It is so small that it is easily hidden, and it is impossible to detect because the volume of post is so huge.

One suggestion I would like to make - Deputy Finian McGrath and others discussed it earlier - is the idea of a standing parliamentary committee to deal with this issue alone. That is something I will be calling for.

Deputies Finian McGrath, Catherine Byrne and others have brought to our attention the major gangland crime issues that feed on this also. It is a major issue for us from a criminal justice point of view. The presentation referred, as have Deputies Ó Caoláin, McLellan and others, to health, education, youth leisure, boredom and increased sports partnership, which is another issue. Justice is in there, and one can go across the whole range of Government Departments. All committees here are extraordinarily busy, but I suggest that there should be a standing parliamentary committee focusing on this alone. I would be interested in the reactions of colleagues and the witnesses to the suggestion. The standing committee would work with the Minister of State with responsibility for drugs, who, thankfully, is now in position and is very active. This is extraordinarily serious stuff. The witnesses are right that this new substance is highly addictive and very dangerous, and we do not know what chemicals are in there. Those chemicals are changing constantly. The issue has to be dealt with on a multi-agency level. There is no simple answer and it is not just a matter of putting more gardaí out there. Those involved are bypassing that. Borders do not matter here. In many instances, they are just posting the stuff through. It is changing so quickly. We must change our thinking as well to bring it into the 21st century. We have the resources in mental health prevention, etc., but we must focus on this on a constant basis and work with our European partners, as they are also facing the same issue.