Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I will keep my questions for the Department Justice. I have zero interest in criminalising people for simple possession who are in addiction. I do have an interest in tackling those in organised crime who are making vast amounts of money from other people's misery. Young people, especially in disadvantaged areas in my area, are attracted by the lifestyle, the flash runners, the fancy cars and the few bob in their pocket. They see it as a way of escaping poverty. CAB was set up to tackle high-level organised crime and take the assets. It is a really welcome tool of the State. There are a cohort of drug dealers whose lifestyles do not match their means. You just need to go onto social media to see this. They are eating out in fancy restaurants. They are constantly going to football matches. They are probably over at the Euros at the moment. They do not have the assets but they have the lifestyle that does not match the means. When the representatives from the citizens' assembly were in here, they mentioned a community, local level type criminal assets bureau as a recommendation. We did not get a chance to tease it out. Has the Department given any consideration to a kind of local CAB? Would that be able to tackle lifestyles as well as assets? This is something that needs to be tackled. I use the GAA analogy when they are trying to attract more young girls into sports: if you cannot see it, you cannot be it. In this case, however, if young people cannot see it, they may not want to be it.