Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I will be brief. It is great to have the commander here. It is important to have him here because sometimes when we are looking for reform, engaging with people outside of our own context provides a different perspective. There is a line of questioning I wish to ask. A lot of the time in this discussion we talk about the person who has the addiction. I agree with a huge amount of what is in Mr. Leitão da Silva's statement but I want to bring in some questions, from a policing perspective, that perhaps people might ask who are sceptical. For many people when they see open drug dealing in a street, it makes them feel less safe. When they see people using drugs, they feel less safe. There is a lot of hypocrisy there because if they see people drinking alcohol on the corner, that is one form of drug and then they see somebody taking a different type of drug and that makes them feel differently. I accept that but I just want to talk about it for those who may be sceptical about the issue of decriminalisation. Will the witness talk a little about the efficiencies of policing that have allowed the force to police in a better way because, as the witness said in his statement, they are not undergoing all of the paperwork and the transactions around the issue of criminalising addiction? Will Mr. Leitão da Silva give some examples of how they been able to police better not just in the area of drugs but also other efficiencies that enable them to police in other areas?