Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses. We know that the war on drugs is not working and having this committee is proof that it is not working. If it was working, there would be no need for any of us to be here today. The citizens' assembly was the same.

I was interested in what was said on race and class in the war on drugs. I come from an area of disadvantage. Stop and search was something I grew up with. Even when going to the shop, we were stopped and searched. We would be stopped and searched when going to football training. If we were with more than one person walking down the road, we were stopped and searched. There was no rhyme nor reason to it.

My first question on that is to Mr. Glynn. For that to change, there will have to be a cultural shift in An Garda Síochána. My fear is that gardaí will look at other reasons to stop and search people from disadvantaged areas and different backgrounds. For example, they could use an increase in knife crime as a reason to stop and search. Does Mr. Glynn see that as an issue going forward? Does he see that a cultural change is needed in An Garda Síochána to stop that stop and search? How would he suggest going about that?