Mr. Niall Garvey:

Yes. The misuse of alcohol and drugs is an unusual one when it comes to rural crime in that it is more of an undercurrent in rural communities. It is not a matter of out-there, in-your-face street brawls and wing mirrors being broken off cars because that just would not be accepted in a rural community. The social mores still have that effect. It may be a factor behind visiting gangs carrying out burglaries and so on. That is a separate issue. That is not to say that that misuse is not there; it is, of course. It is there in domestic situations such as those the Senator described. She is correct that the community garda can provide support in such cases - as I said earlier, the good ones do - but then it is about priority and focus.

Specialist drugs units have been set up everywhere that have a very clear focus on tackling one end of the spectrum. We do not have that focus in the community garda's job. It is a by the way. If somebody knows a helpful garda, he or she will do the job. It should be part of the job and have equal priority to the enforcement on the other end of the scale.