Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 20 June 2024

Committee on Drugs Use

Drug Use Policy: HSE, Department of Justice and Department of Health

9:30 am

Mr. Ben Ryan:

On the maintenance or otherwise of section 3, the starting point is effectively what we have heard from An Garda Síochána on the ground. Gardaí utilise section 3 and often, as a result of section 3, they find section 15 offences or they may find other offences as well. By removing section 3 completely from the Statute Book, it would greatly reduce their capacity to identify section 15 offences. That is the kind of underlying operation of it by An Garda Síochána.