Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
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I fully agree with the Minister on this. I am referring not only to the training that takes place in Templemore, but also to continuing professional development training. This will be a stark change in practice for many gardaí. It used to be the case that people found with drugs were taken to a police station but now they will be rediverted to a health facility. This requires training. The discretion in this is with the individual garda on the ground. I would like to see some degree of a training budget. I would like to understand how this will be enacted. I would also like some oversight because what I do not want to see, and I hope it does not happen but it is better to say it and be in front of it rather than regretting it afterwards, is overpolicing of some areas whereby certain areas get better access to discretion while predominantly more working-class communities do not. I want to see what oversight is built into this mechanism and I would like to see the data.