Mr. John O'Driscoll:

We have access to all sorts of premises. When a licence is issued for a licensed premises, the Garda Síochána has access. From the perspective of the public house, how many of the members who have consumed alcohol during appropriate hours have had a visit from a member of the Garda Síochána? Yet, we must have the power to enter such premises as needs be. This power applies to many other premises. For many years, I was in charge of a drug unit in the north inner city which was a stone's throw from where the methadone clinic was on the North Strand. There was great communication between the clinic and the Garda Síochána and the occasions on which we entered the premises were very few and far between. There was great collaboration between the community, those who ran the clinic and the Garda Síochána.

Being the Garda Síochána, we are going to talk about the policing aspect of the initiative, and that is why we are here. This is where the health dimension interacts with the criminal justice dimension, and we have to deal with the complications that arise. It is a task for the Oireachtas Members to frame the legislation in the most appropriate way and we look forward the outcome of the deliberations. For the Garda Síochána, we must make the law as simple as possible to adhere to and ensure it is not so complicated that it will cause a problem in how we interact with the facilities when they are introduced.