Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

I come from an area of Dublin that has suffered massively over the past few decades from the problem of drugs in society. In Tallaght and across south-west Dublin and surrounding areas, I have seen at first hand the devastation that it wreaks on communities. I have witnessed family, friends and neighbours succumb to its devastating impact. I have attended too many wakes, houses and funerals. I have seen talented and energetic young people turn into the living wrecks that we so often associate, usually without a second thought, with drug addiction. I know that I am very much in a minority in this Chamber when I say that because if I were not, as sure as night follows day, we would have addressed the issue in a more coherent, strategic and planned manner. We would not still be trying to bury our heads in the sand, operating over the heads of the communities most affected by the problem. No longer can we allow the establishment to wash its hands of responsibility for this crisis and formulate policies based on its own fears and obsessions, which do nothing to address the underlying causes of the crisis.

We have tabled this motion because of the gravity of the drugs problem engulfing many communities throughout Ireland. We have made it the theme of our valuable Private Members' time because of our belief that there is an urgent need to act now across a range of Departments, including the Departments of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Social and Family Affairs, Health and Children, the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Education and Science and Justice, Equality and Law Reform. We can only tackle the problem if we first admit to its scale, which is of epidemic proportions. Then we must resolve to combine the efforts of those Departments in a systematic and strategic fashion.

It is imperative to raise the drug issue and debate this crisis, which for so long has been ignored by successive Governments. It is impossible to measure how many lives, families and communities have been and continue to be ripped apart by the scourge of drugs. Although problem drug use spans a wide category, from alcohol to opiates, in this debate we will focus on the so-called hard drugs of heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine, which have had a profound and extremely harmful effect on Irish society.

Governments have reacted inadequately and far too late to the drugs crisis. When communities were forced to mobilise against the rampant heroin epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s, the gardaí harassed many of those people instead of pursuing the major drugs traffickers. Communities were marginalised instead of being listened to. If the Government is not to repeat the mistakes of the past, it must realise that communities and their representatives must be involved in the fight against drugs. Let us not delude ourselves, something of which certain people present seem very capable, that we are currently addressing the problem. We are not, we are losing the battle.

Although many addicts now seek treatment, they must endure unacceptably lengthy waiting lists. That is happening in many areas, although places are available on community-based projects, and it must change. A recent study showed that the majority of heroin addicts receiving methadone treatment were regular users of other drugs, including cocaine. Methadone maintenance, while useful for some, is not the only solution to making people drug free. We must also establish mechanisms to track addicts' progression through the system to enable all stakeholders to make an informed assessment of the success or otherwise of the current approach to tackling drug addiction.

Ireland is awash with cocaine, whose use is spiralling out of control, with an increase of 1,600% in the quantity smuggled into the country over the last six years. There are approximately 13,000 heroin users in Dublin alone. It is not only a Dublin phenomenon, however. Since the middle of the 1990s, there has been a marked increase in drug-related premature deaths outside the capital.

It is far from coincidental that while drug use cuts across all social divisions, it is most prevalent in areas of high social deprivation. Without question, poverty and social inequality contribute to drug use. The scourge of drugs will undoubtedly continue unless poverty and inequality are also tackled. Ireland is the second richest country in the EU and one of the richest per capita in the world. However, just under one in five lives in relative poverty and 7% of the population live in consistent poverty.

Surely Ireland is now in a better position than it has ever been, and probably ever will be, to eradicate grinding poverty. RAPID and CLÁR areas, designated areas of high disadvantage, need sustained support to emerge from their current predicament. On the education front, we need early start programmes in all schools in RAPID and CLÁR areas. The Government must improve social welfare payments and increase the minimum wage. It must encourage people to make the transition from welfare to adequately paid employment rather than force them from benefits into low-paid jobs. Incentives and supports must be made available to those who wish to return to education. Providing accessible and affordable child care is also essential.

There is a growing trend whereby grandparents have had to shoulder the burden of caring for grandchildren, in most cases without State support. The parents of the children concerned are drug users. The abandonment criteria for grandparents to receive benefits must be changed and the financial gap between foster and orphan-guardian allowance narrowed to reflect the financial cost to many carers. The preventative role of the family should be emphasised more. Family support services should be greatly expanded so that they can act as effective buffers to drug problems. In any drug policy, the family must have a prominent role.

A recent Health Service Executive survey showed that three out of every four Irish people do not have enough information or have the wrong information about drugs. Education should be used as a powerful weapon against the problem use of drugs and it should take place at school, at home and in the community. As 66% of those who have taken drugs did so for the first time while in secondary school, school children must be educated against the dangers of their use. There must be sustained and widespread educational campaigns in all required languages to ensure that everyone has enough knowledge of the harmful effects of drugs. The acceptance of drug misuse and the glamorisation of cocaine must be tackled.

It is not uncommon for children to look up to drug dealers in their area, who are equipped with fast cars, big money and designer clothes. However, at the end of every deal is an individual jeopardising his or her life, health and future. Major drug dealers must be exposed for what they are — parasites amassing vast wealth at the expense of a person's addiction, a family's safety and a community's future.

In many communities, drugs are rampant, making it extremely tough for addicts to reject that way of life as they are tempted by unprecedented availability. We must ensure that children and young adults have viable alternatives to hanging around street corners and becoming the prey of drug pushers and their minions. Those alternatives must be interesting, accessible, affordable and local.

Educational disadvantage has not gone away, while its repercussions for the rest of a young person's life grow greater. There is a general correlation between low educational attainment and drug problems. While nearly 90% of children of higher professionals sit the leaving certificate examination, only 77% of those of semi- and unskilled manual workers do so. That means that 23% of the latter do not sit the leaving certificate and those children are inevitably more likely to be unemployed or in the poverty trap of low-income work, from which it is difficult to escape.

It is estimated that up to 1,000 pupils fail to make the transition from primary to secondary school each year. What happens to those children? The Government must establish a comprehensive database of primary school pupils to track that transition and monitor those who drop out of school, who are a vulnerable target group. Schools and their environs should be drug-free zones rather than an easy market for unscrupulous dealers. Criminal legislation needs to reflect this.

There is a certain irony that the Minister of State with responsibility for drugs presides over the housing situation — another crisis. An estimated 5,500 people are homeless. There appears to be a high level of drug use linked with homelessness and emergency hostels are, in many cases, full of drugs. Everyone has the right to a roof over their head and to live in a clean, safe and drug-free environment. People must have a choice and hostels need to reflect this.

The Government must ensure the roll out of cocaine treatment projects and devise an action plan to prevent the escalation of crack cocaine. Departments must work in conjunction with communities to ensure local and regional task forces receive the necessary funding. There must be a concerted effort to tackle the root causes of why people take drugs.

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