Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I 100% agree. That is my concern in terms of where this debate is going. Some of us in the committee have those concerns. There is opposition from the top down, and from the bottom up, in terms of where we want to go. When the dust settles on what the committee agrees, the next Government will have to deal with it. There is still huge conservatism among the powers that be, particularly the police, whereby they do not want, in any shape or form, even to address the issues with the Misuse of Drugs Act. We are left with the status quo, which then becomes a policy. The result is that people die and communities are wrecked. As long as that approach continues, the status quo will remain.

We must be bold and radical in trying to save lives. I receive a lot of emails but one I got during the week really struck me. It was from a woman in Dublin who has lost her son and sister to drug abuse. It was a very long email. She said this is about life and death. If we can change policy, she said, we can save lives. If we can save just one life as a result of the direction we take, all the time we have spent on this discussion will be worth it.