Lynn Ruane (Independent)
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These are really simple tools but they bring many people in. It is really amazing work. Mr. Ducque has spoken about people possibly being too far gone and has asked how you can compete with a wage of €2,500. You cannot. What are the witnesses' thoughts on that point? There is a tension between social policy and legal policy. There is then another piece in between, an intervention in the moment to reduce harm. I see potential for the different groups' work in that space between those two pieces. It is a question of what an intervention looks like in the moment. It may be a matter of deciding that we are not competing with the drug trade. It is usually the case that a small percentage of people in a community create the most harm and make people feel unsafe. It is often a reduction in violence that people are looking for rather than competition with the drug trade. At what point do you switch away from the apprenticeship and college stuff and look at how to just reduce violence and harm while acknowledging that the drug trade, which we do not like, is happening? What are the alternatives in that space when you cannot go with the college or apprenticeship piece? I am not talking about giving up on anyone but about working with what you are dealt in the moment. Perhaps the witnesses could discuss that.

I may then ask Ms Kelly to come in. I am not sure the committee has had any real conversations around chemsex. There is nothing on it in the report so far. I hope we will get to it in the end. Will Ms Kelly give some insights into chemsex and the harms that causes as regards addiction and people availing of services? Those are my two points.