Ms Marian Sloan:

I have worked for 25 years in addiction services and the north east. There have been seismic changes in the Garda's approach over the past ten or 15 years in that many of the young recruits coming in do the 20-week community drug programme the education programme. They are all encouraged to take part in that. We operated a drugs course with the Probation Service as well. The approach has been to nip it in the bud especially with young people. It is not a legal issue in that case. It is about families and communities and supporting the young people. Young people in their early teens as young as 12 or 14 can be targeted by major gangs to start off a career that goes into that.

Recently I worked with someone and it was apparent that there was a lack of awareness about the necessity for a multi-agency engagement. There are child protection issues and the social services are involved as well. There are also the Garda and family support. There needs to be a full, systemic approach to how to work with a young person. Often what happens is that they become very involved in drugs themselves. The dealers know that. That is a policy that they use. It is a practice that is there. I suppose it is a business method they use to get young people, and it is the families then that are left with the debts, which are never paid off because they can say it is €8,000 or €10,000. The agencies need to be more fully engaged in that regard. We could talk about Drogheda and how it took a multi-agency approach recently.