Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank members for their contributions. I agree with Senator John Crown's sentiments about it not being enough to continue on with what has been handed down to us but that we must instead form a logical view of what is happening and what needs to be done. As I said earlier, there is no point in clogging up the courts system and criminalising people for what is a medical need. There can be a lot of tough talk around this issue, which is really pointless. We have an understanding of the issues facing people who live on the edges of society and the excesses that can sometimes arise in their behaviour. Tough talk offers great one liners for journalists to latch onto but essentially amounts to meaningless and vacuous commentary which does not address the reality of the situation.

Continuing down the road of the Just Say No policy is a waste of time because a lot of young people do not listen to that message. Some are affected by the call and respond accordingly, but many others do not. I agree with Deputy Catherine Byrne that the education component is very important in terms of setting out our stall, but it is not really the most effective way of reaching young people. If children were influenced to that extent by everything they are told in school, we would not have the issues we have.

I am instinctively an advocate for the idea of medically supervised consumption rooms. I am in favour, too, of a decriminalisation model, but it must be one that suits the Irish context. That is a crucial point. I referred to the different legislative approaches taken in different countries. We must ensure any provisions we bring in will work in this country and in the context of Irish dynamics.

There is a huge amount of work to do in terms of raising public awareness. Deputy Finian McGrath mentioned the 633 people who died from drug misuse in 2012. It is an appalling statistic. If it applied to road deaths, there would be a massive public awareness programme arising out of it. We need to look at how to hone our message, but there remains work to do on what that message should be. This is an issue that impacts people of all ages, young, middle-aged and older. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan made an interesting point about age being a factor in decisions around criminal sanctions. Some people have taken drugs all their lives and do not make a connection in their own heads with the tragic stories that enter the public realm from time to time.

Consequently, I do not know; I am willing to listen and learn as to how best to approach this matter. I accept the Deputy's point about how the Government is constantly trying to catch up with a lucrative and sophisticated industry. The Deputy and I are aware, from the area she represents and which I used to represent and in which I used to teach, that this is an extremely lucrative industry. It is not a casual, recreational activity in which people get involved but is a parallel economy. It employs people, one can make money out of it, people derive power from it and it has a hierarchy within it. Why would one spend one's time in education or further training when is a lot of money to be made within this parallel economy? As there is a huge amount of empowerment to be gained from doing that, the question is how should that also be tackled. I acknowledge the Deputy mentioned that the previous Minister held a conference in early 2014 and I understand the focus was mainly on the issue of alcohol. My intention is not to allow this conference, which is to be held at the end of the month, to feed into the national drugs strategy necessarily but to let it feed into a paper I wish to present to Cabinet, which basically will outline Ireland's current position in this regard. As for waiting for the national drugs strategy, such a strategy will be produced anyway. Governments and the political system will deliver that anyway. However, I wish to provide a snapshot in time of the nature of our drug problem, how important it is, how dangerous it is, and how serious this is. I want people to say things like people are not showing up, to refer to the drugs task forces, the gaps in the service, the aftercare and all the rest of it. I believe we can get to the bottom of these issues at the conference at the end of the month.