Mr. Shane Hamilton:

There was a pharmacological treatment for opiates, which was what the original drugs strategy set out to do. There was a medical treatment that could stabilise individuals so they could still engage in society and their lives, and which allowed them to achieve things academically and in employment. Those things could be done. Individuals are now losing their homes in the space of months, not years, and are sleeping rough. In west Tallaght, people who reared children and sometimes grandchildren in their homes are now begging for money outside local shops. That is the case outside every corner shop and petrol station. That is in Tallaght, which is a suburban area. I am not talking about the inner city. That makes a difference to the landscape and the visibility of the issue. Houses are boarded up. People are unable to put out rubbish outside their houses. This was shocking and controversial when we started raising the issue. People were uneasy about the terminology we were using. That shows how important it is for community projects to be on the ground and reporting realities. That is the reality for a massive population of west Tallaght, and broader areas of Tallaght. That is the importance of noting game-changers.

The drug is now embedded into the community and is not going away. We talked about the need for residential services and treatment services. All of those things are available if we can be resourced properly and get people on track. We must remove the devastating barriers people are dealing with. We are not here to victimise those who are already the most vulnerable individuals within our communities. We are here to protect them, raise them up and ensure they have access to appropriate care and support systems. That is what we need to do with crack cocaine. It is not just about psychotherapy or drug counselling. It is about ensuring these individuals are not sleeping rough and their children are not going into care. We need a nuanced, more articulate and sophisticated approach to very vulnerable people in the community.