David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I was not expecting to be first but I thank the Chair. I have another meeting at 10:30 a.m on the Traveller issues Mr. McCann referenced.

I have met many of the witnesses previously. They have painted a bleak picture but they also put forward solutions, suggestions and proposals that should be taken on board, at this stage, by the next Government in a very strong way. The witnesses have painted a very bleak picture of what is happening out there and what can happen, as Mr. McCann said, with respect to crack cocaine going forward. I do not want to sound in patronising in any way but I genuinely thank the witnesses for what their people are doing on the ground. I worked with Mr. D'Arcy before on the youth justice strategy. We want to ensure we have prevention and intervention services working together and appropriate intervention when it happens. Detention is the very last resort and this is working to some extent.

I am really taken with what Mr. Perth said with respect to working on the streets and intervening at that level. All the witnesses mentioned trauma and this has come up again and again. We have not focused enough on this issue in all its manifestations and what it means. In the very short time available to me, I want to give people an opportunity to elaborate on trauma. I acknowledge what the witnesses said about people coming out with their struggles and not being accepted and so on as well as the trauma that experienced there and how it has led people to turn to drugs as a way of relieving trauma. I have heard people say it again and again. We should start focusing on trauma as one area that has not been focused on as much as it should have been to date. We might tease out what it means and how we can help people experiencing trauma in all its manifestations.

The issue of decriminalisation has been dealt with here many times and our report recommends it. I visited Portugal many years ago and witnesses what people were doing there and engaged with them on this. I was convinced at the time that it had huge merit. I acknowledge what was said with respect to criminal gangs still being in charge and profiting where decriminalisation is involved. Legalisation and then regulation were mentioned but in an international context, you are still dealing with illegal substances being brought in from abroad and how a government deals with that. There are big issues there but the first step of decriminalisation of the person is an important one. It will be a huge step for Ireland if we go down that route. It will be a big move.

It was also said that Travellers more vulnerable to the illegal drugs market than others. The drugs issue permeates across all levels of society and that some people feeding this are well off and have really good employment. They are spending an awful lot of money on these substances. It might be much more than the people we see on the streets who are really struggling and are visible. There is a invisible market out there that is probably far more lucrative in many ways.

I would like to tease out the issue of trauma a little more. The witnesses might comment on that because we mentioned trauma without drilling down into what it actually means. We might have a few minutes for anyone who wants to come in on that.