Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I thank Mr. Glynn and Dr. Ó Concubhair for their opening statements. My first question is for Dr. Ó Concubhair. This debate has probably evolved in the past five or six years in terms of where people are at, both politicians and the public. We have progressed to a point where people are thinking about alternatives to what we have had in the past six decades, which was a complete failure. The authorities have talked about a health-led approach, but that is largely lip service in terms of where we want to go. We had officials in here some weeks ago talking about a health-led approach and a diversion approach. My view is that is very discretionary and arbitrary, but that is the road they want to go down in an Irish context. They do not want to amend or change the Misuse of Drugs Act, which is where a lot of the problems originate. Do the witnesses agree that the Department of Justice and elements of the police and political establishment are more than happy to keep the status quo rather than going down the road of decriminalisation in the Irish context? That means it is largely lip service.