Marie Sherlock (Labour)
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We owe those here today and the wider citizens’ assembly a huge debt of gratitude for their work and the concise recommendations we have before us. To have 250 hours of round-table discussion is an enormous commitment so I thank everyone very sincerely and also Dr. Ivers and Mr. Galvin whose professional work is hugely valued in this area. We have a profound set of recommendations in terms of moving to a health-led approach. It is very clear that we need a whole-of-government approach on this. I heard what Mr. Reid said about the frustration expressed by many citizens’ assembly members with regard to the national drug strategy and the failure to implement some very modest proposals there. We all know the reality is that people do not wake up and have a drug problem. It does not happen overnight. It happens because of all the other issues in their lives. We owe it to the two- and three-year-olds in the SAOL project in Amiens Street, to children right across many communities and to the people that Ms Moynihan talks about to ensure that we as a committee make progress on these recommendations.

I have two specific questions. My first is to Mr. Reid on recommendation 7. His professional background brings something unique to the assembly, having been chief executive of the HSE and going on to chair the citizens’ assembly. There is an explicit call to publish a draft national drugs strategy by June 2024. It was a very bold call in some ways and very welcome.

We hear what was said about the need for urgent action. Will the witnesses give us some insight into the thinking behind that? That deadline is important for us. We heard what the Department of Health had to say on the matter, but I would like to hear their thinking.