Annie Hoey (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman for allowing me in. I was listening as I was jogging back to Leinster House. From what I heard, there seems to be a bit of a mishmash between some of the things that have been said and some of the actions that have been taken. We talk about a health-led approach but, unfortunately, criminalising would not be compatible with that approach. A lot of the international evidence would show that. I just wanted to put that up. I know a number of other people, such as Senator Ruane and others, have talked about that.

The Minister of State said that there is no intention of either decriminalising or legalising drugs, which are two very separate things, by the way. Is he saying that because he does not want to pre-empt the work of the promised citizens' assembly on drug use or is it because that is now the official Government line for its period in office, regardless of what happens? Will there be no engagement or discussion on decriminalising, which is really where the conversation is at? Legalising is a whole other situation.

We talk about a health-led approach. Has the Minister of State had any engagement with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage regarding the Housing First policy and ensuring that people with drug addiction who are currently "live" drug addicts have access to housing? I know a number of schemes require people to "dry out" before they are able to avail of them but, again, that is not compatible with a health-led approach, such as that in the likes of Finland or the Housing First policy. Has he had any engagement with the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage on that and how to progress the Housing First policy, which is proving to be very effective?

We briefly talked about medicinal cannabis. We have had high-level coverage today of another citizen being dragged through the courts. That person is using cannabis medicinally because he or she has epilepsy and has not had seizures for a number of years. What engagement has the Minister of State had with advocates for medicinal cannabis, or with officials, in progressing that?