Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 17 October 2024

Committee on Drugs Use

A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed)

9:30 am

Mr. Justin Kelly:

I know we are tight on time but I will add one other point. We emphasise to those officers who are predominantly involved in enforcement, for example, in drug units, that they should deal with people humanely, even though they are involved in searching people's homes and all that sort of stuff. I worked at street level for five years in the drugs unit in Tallaght. That was key for us. We were interacting with these people on a daily basis. People would probably be surprised to know that many of the front-line officers and members of the drugs unit have really good relationships with people who are badly addicted to drugs. We do not have an adversarial relationship with these poor individuals.