Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

To respond to Mr. D'Arcy's point about decriminalisation, any time we make a suggestion to change the law there is concern on this side of the room about unintended consequences or what it would look like. Professor Comiskey, who appeared before the committee a couple of weeks ago, stated her understanding of the research is that more progressive laws do not necessarily increase use and more draconian laws do not decrease use, because people use drugs. I wanted to make that point.

I want to hear some of the experiences on the ground, especially in a specific area. In recent weeks, we have heard from a number of clinical or medical service providers, whom I know the witnesses meet tangentially every so often when someone is in crisis. I will start with Ms Kelly. Some of the research suggests that stigma does not stop at the door of a hospital or a service and that, in some cases, the stigma can be higher among healthcare staff. One of the examples given was that drug and addiction services are not even subject to inspection because it is a totally different stream of service. What are the witnesses' experiences of dealing with someone in crisis and enabling that person to access clinical help? Is stigma experienced within the health system?