Ms Eileen O'Brien:

Addiction is a very complex, layered issue and very difficult to tackle. I have training and a lot of experience in family systems, looking at systemic and transgenerational issues. The fact that the cycle has gone on for three generations does not mean we cannot break it.

Sometimes, when we are working with these men, we say it is their children who will be the first beneficiaries. For every day at our project that a lad is clean and sober, if he is going home to a family, his family is benefiting and so is his community. While it is complex and complicated, it is not unattainable. We keep trying and looking. We keep up our reflective practice, asking ourselves how we might do it differently or better. We involve the people we are working with, their experiences, and apply what is learned.

We are working in a systematic way with our lads. They are looking at their families and joining the dots of their experiences. They are not feeling so ashamed by what has been going on in their lives because they are getting more understanding and insight. There are very good reasons all these men end up defensive and angry. They have had really difficult lives and, to manage them, have taken on extreme defensive behaviours. Sometimes I feel they cannot be any other way. If they could, they would. Not one of our lads wants to be as he is. There is an inherent goodness in all of them if we can manage to peel back the layers. It takes time and resources, and therapeutic interventions are necessary all along the way. I am not sure if I am answering Deputy Finian McGrath's question but I feel we have to keep on trying. We are making headway.