Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is incredibly interesting - mind-blowing in some ways. The committee could definitely consider recommending statutory compulsion. I have two related questions. Is the experience similar in the South? The scale of that issue strongly emphasises the point we dealt with previously regarding treating drugs as a health issue rather than just a crime issue and the interface there. In reports that have been done in the South in the areas of the review around children being taken into care by gardaí under section 29, the experience was that the garda who dealt with that issue was generally very professional, caring and empathetic. However, the gap arose in their subsequent interconnection with the other social services and agencies. Given the training gardaí get, how could we expect a garda to have to deal with that stuff? If we are talking about moving the police service in that direction, which is happening anyway, where is the specialist training for dealing with all that stuff that really requires medical expertise? Would the figures in the South be as dramatic as in the North? What specialist and interagency approach applies there?