Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The ravages of crack cocaine throughout the community were mentioned. Mention was made of deprived communities, not necessarily unemployment, but if there is a serious drug problem in a community, it has an economic impact as well and tends to make the individuals living and attempting to work and survive in such areas do so under a cloud. That is not healthy. We all have to deal with the severe, acute and chronic cases and I think we all agree that there has to be an end in sight.

We have to have an objective or a goal. To what extent are we setting these goals? Are we setting them now for the next members of this committee and the next drug task forces as well, with a view to starting off from the point at which we are finishing now, as opposed to starting all over again given the knowledge we have gleaned in the meantime?