Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I accept fully what the Chairman is saying. I pose the question as a law maker. We are ignoring reality. We are ignoring the fact that these drugs will be brought into a premises in which the State is involving itself. That is the point I am making. Second, no attempt has been made to at least put in a provision that facilities will be made available for those who wish to be weaned off these drugs. I have no problem with the principle of taking these people off the street but as law makers, we must deal with reality and the reality is that we cannot introduce legislation that is clearly against another piece of legislation which says it is illegal to purchase drugs and that it is illegal to have drug dealers effectively standing outside selling them. That is the point.