Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is a great deal here. The more one listens, the more one learns, they say. I was very interested in what Mr. Tim Murphy said about education, particularly through schools and SPHE. I am a firm believer that if you get people at a very young age, instil in them some sense of who they are, where they have come from and a sense of worth and build their confidence, one can prevent many of them from doing things they know very well to be harmful to them and their families. When my children were in school, I was very aware of local people and community gardaí being able to respond and come in to talk to children about drugs. Sometimes, however, I thought it was not graphic enough. I think back to the television advertisement about a young girl losing her ability to walk because a guy in a car veered off the road and jammed her up against a wall. Those are very poignant images for young people. My own children hated that ad. They saw the reality of what could happen with this guy completely out of control and bouncing into a wall. I wonder if the issue is whether we can instil in young people through education in school the image of what can happen to them, how this could affect their lives. It is the fact that we do not even know what is in some of these things and how it could affect them, not only now but into the future as regards their bodies and everything else.

Alcohol is the stepping stone into any kind of addiction. It starts off with young people having a few cans and then getting into something else. For some people, unfortunately, the train left the station on this a long time ago. It is very difficult for those people, but we should focus now on those people who are still in school, whether through youth work, music or sports. We should focus on improving their self-image and allow them opportunities. Deputy Ó Caoláin talked about community provision, but I am not talking only about the provision of services; I am talking about the provision of education in school around sport, music, theatre and all of those things that give children a different image of what they want to do with themselves.