Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for attending and for their opening statements. I pay tribute to both of them as valuable and incredible members of our community. They contribute so significantly, particularly in the care of those who are caught in addiction. I am delighted that the emphasis of the Irish College of GPs at the beginning was on the humanity of the individual and is compassion led for the individual. A common theme running through the work of our committee is to say we are dealing with individuals, so having health-led approaches is important. Pharmacies have been brilliant. Especially since Covid, they have been amazing in stepping up. I would like to see them be able to do far more again, but I thank them for that.

I completely agree. Addiction is most prevalent in areas of social deprivation where there is childhood trauma and ongoing poverty and where people can be preyed upon for addiction and be drawn into criminality. The State criminalising people who are caught in addiction does not help. In fact, there is a major need to ramp up our health-led approach. On the other hand, as a Government and a State, we have a responsibility to make sure that is not an acceptance of drugs - full stop - and all the criminality that goes with that and those who are profiting on the misery of others to the point of death and suicide.

Both groups very much welcome a health-led approach, but I hear qualifications within their statements. I fully agree when they say we need huge resourcing and placements for treatment and support. We need communities to be targeted with supports. In our next module we will hopefully have the opportunity to hear fully about what needs to be said and done in communities. However, when do we know we are at a critical level because we cannot let people wait with their lives being destroyed. How do we know when we have reached that critical level of services so we can then click in? The IPU was saying that we should only decriminalise when we have reached that stage, but that could be 30 years from now. I am not willing to wait that long. I want it to be as quick as possible, and I see that through the task force that I am involved in.

I apologise as time is going and I want to give the witnesses an opportunity. What sort of indicators and metrics should we look for? Is it waiting lists? In terms of numbers how do we know we have reached a point where we can point and say we have reached the objective that Government and State need to get to?