Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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I will only ask one because most of them have been asked. The biggest issue here is that the legislators are far behind society. We must face up to this issue. The legislators need to get up to speed. I firmly believe decriminalisation is the right way to go, but it is not the solution in itself. If there is a focused policy shift towards decriminalisation, it then forces legislators and Governments of the day to look at the other policy issues that need to be implemented, such as the provision of treatment centres and rehabilitation. That is where we need to go. We need a broad opinion about where we would like to go and policies then need to follow that. The national drugs strategy is contradictory in that it has a rehabilitation pillar but also a criminal justice element.

The policy, as it stands, does not lend itself to moving towards a decriminalisation scenario.

The Irish Hospital Consultants Association said in its statement that it accepts that obtaining a criminal record for drug use brings about adverse consequences which would be removed with decriminalisation but that the risk of a criminal record can also act as a deterrent. That may be the case with a very small number of people but there are other deterrents which we need to be considering and focusing on. One is educating people, about which we have already spoken. If we educate people on the dangers of consistent, harmful drug use, that can act as a deterrent. I do not think the argument that the risk of a criminal record is a deterrent is good enough or should prevent us from moving to decriminalise drug use. Indeed, I believe it is counter-productive. It is not the case that one approach fits all. We have been talking about the Portuguese, Dutch and Australian models but what we need is an Irish model. We need an Irish model that works for us. We can look at all of the models out there and take the best parts from each, but unless we develop an Irish model that deals with the Irish problem, we are not going to address it in any meaningful way.

When we talk about criminalisation, we are not just talking about people's inability to get a visa or a job. I met a person at my office last week who had a minor conviction for drug use. That person had received a letter from the local authority to the effect that he would not be considered for local authority housing for a period of two years because of that conviction. That is crazy, particularly in the context of the current homeless crisis. Criminalisation is one of the elements that leads to homelessness and mental health problems, as well as putting people at risk of becoming homeless. Unless we move to a policy of decriminalisation, we are not forcing legislators or policy makers to look at anything other than the system that currently operates.