Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh na finnéithe. I thank them for their contributions. I apologise for being in and out of the meeting. That is just the madness of this place.

We are dealing with an element of madness when we talk about drugs and young people, whether it is people taking nitrous oxide or those who move on to other substances and who, in some cases, fall into really bad addiction. Youth work can provide an intervention that people do not necessarily see as an intervention. It is about reaching the most difficult-to-reach cases. No more than football teams and everything else, there are people who are absolutely removed from everything. It is about safe spaces and whatever. What can be done? We need a real conversation, as I have said before, about this entire issue and about resources.

This is a multi-Department and interagency issue, and the idea is that everybody who is needed is tied in. Sometimes that does not happen. If there are deficiencies in whatever service, it is about making sure they are filled. From the witnesses' point of view, what can be done for, in particular, those who may have problematic home lives? While a pile of organisations and agencies have responsibility, we need to catch as many people as possible and provide them with supports. The vital thing is how to signpost when dealing with a young person who has fallen into addiction and-or has started to do runs for a local drug dealer. Unfortunately, those in the age bracket we are talking are getting younger all the time.