Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Chair. I will talk a bit more about practical matters. If we were to decriminalise drugs in Ireland tomorrow, it simply would not work. We do not have the necessary resources to direct people to health-led approaches. I have worked in front-line addiction services right across Dublin and outside of Dublin through the years. I have vast experience of working in services that are scrimping and saving just to supply the most basic services to vulnerable people who are accessing them. If we were to decriminalise drugs today, I do not think it would work unless we had the necessary resources.

Ms Eastwood gave the example of Portugal and stated that after decriminalisation, there was a 62% increase in the number of people accessing treatment. Was that mandatory or did diversion methods lead to that increase? She referred to Portugal starting from a low base. I would argue that Ireland is starting from a low base in the context of the funding needed to address the issue of drug use. Did Portugal significantly increase the funding? Did it change the model of funding? One of the biggest issues we have is how funding is administered to the services. At the moment it is either one-off funding or annual funding and I genuinely believe we have to move to a multi-annual approach to allow services to adapt and change and strategically plan for the future. Could Ms Eastwood comment on that?