Mr. Paul Reid:

I agree with the Senator that the statistics give great cause for concern. If we look at 2020 data again, republished by the Health Research Board, HRB, Ireland ranks as the worst in the EU for drug-induced deaths. We are a complete outlier in terms of our response.

On the 36 recommendations, we were very anxious that the whole debate did not just harp on the one issue of criminalisation versus decriminalisation versus legalisation. It is much bigger and that is why we reach out much further. I think the previous assembly on biodiversity had 170 recommendations so we tried to keep things as tight and as focused as we could.

Regarding the structure of the meetings and the agenda, we looked at the seven months of work we had. In the six assembly meetings we put a structure around us which was, first, a steering group comprising six of the assembly members. Two of the assembly members are here and can talk about that. They looked at what they felt was suitable for the agenda. Separately, we had an advisory steering group. This had people, including Ms Jo-Hanna Ivers, who is here with us today, with very different public views on reducing the harm caused by drugs. Some people were more liberal and others were stricter to the point of being perceived by some as being prohibitionist. We had a broad spectrum of views there.

Third, we had a legal advisory group working with us to give us a bit more depth about the complex issues. Some people talk about legalisation but they actually mean decriminalisation and others talk about decriminalisation when they mean legalisation.

We wanted to get a better grounding, so they advised us on the process. Finally, we took feedback at the end of each assembly meeting about the agenda and whether people would like to see any other items on it. Setting the agenda was quite comprehensive and the secretariat worked with people. If appropriate, when we get a chance I will ask one of my colleagues, Ms Moynihan or Mr. O'Neill, to give their perspective on how we shaped it.