Evanne Ní Chuilinn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am conscious that we have nine months to write a report, which is too long to wait to request a very simple and common sense approach to an escalating problem that has many social and other tentacles. I am on two other committees. Other committees have written to various Ministers and Departments as a collective and made a request.

I suggest that at this point the committee make a request and if it lands, great. Senator Ruane suggested we should invite the Minister to come before the committee. The appropriate person to discuss this with in order to represent the views of the witnesses would be the Minister of State with responsibility for drug use. We had witnesses in last week and we will have more witnesses in next week and we hear all of the same messages. The key thing I am taking away from this is that it does not make sense that those voices are not on the steering groups. The Chair and the clerk might determine whether my suggestion is possible. I am very new to politics but I feel very strongly about all of this. If this is something we can do, I ask that we do it.