Ann Graves (Dublin Fingal East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the witnesses for their contributions. One point I took from them was the lack of involvement of all the groups in the development of the new strategy. That has been raised. The chair and secretary of the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use were here last week and their understanding was that everyone was supposed to have a voice. We will probably be following up on that.

I believe everything has been covered. I have a question for Mr. Slattery, on drug intimidation. It is great that we have the DRIVE programme and that it works very well, but how do we get people to buy into it? There are many cases in which people say such a thing is happening to them but they are absolutely terrified. With regard to housing, Ireland is a small country. If somebody moves from one house to another, they will be found. Where I am, Fingal, everybody knows everybody. Unless people are given a new identity and moved to a different country, which will not happen, this will be an issue. How do we address this?

I have had two cases which were very successfully brought through the courts. They really worked well. The only reason the people went ahead was because they had absolutely no choice. They did not have the wherewithal to borrow money. They literally had no choice but they won and the cases were successful. The vast majority of other people are borrowing money from credit unions, banks - you name it - to pay off drug debts. Have our guests any ideas about ways to encourage people?