Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

"She was sitting up in bed just before I slashed her. I slashed her on the throat two or three times in the bed. I covered her with a pillow so I wouldn't have to look at her face. There was a gurgling noise like she was trying to breathe. There was blood all over my hands." This is the testimony read out in court at the trial of heroin addict who killed his sister. I know this not because I read it in the newspaper or saw it on Sky News but because I sat through this harrowing court case. It was the court case of a constituent but, more importantly, it was the trial of a person who killed a close friend of mine and my family.

Lisa Bell was killed by her heroin-addicted brother almost five years ago. Her father Pat and myself found her body stuffed in a sleeping bag in a wardrobe in her flat in St. Theresa's Gardens. Evidence at the trial indicated that David Bell had stolen his nephew's Christmas presents, his sister's TV, video and jewellery to feed his chronic addiction. This is what led to the argument that led to David taking a Stanley knife to his sister's throat.

Can one imagine for just one minute as one contemplates the motion before us the absolute trauma that heroin addiction has caused the Bell family, their friends and their immediate community? This is an experience I never want to witness again and one which I would not wish on anybody. However, this is the reality behind heroin addiction. This is the reality that awaits more of us if we allow crack cocaine to take hold and fail to take decisive action to tackle the problem of drugs.

The Health Research Board estimated in 2003 that the value of the illegal drugs market in this State was €650 million. That included cannabis, heroin, cocaine, amphetamines, ecstasy and LSD. This year it is estimated the cocaine market alone will be worth over €200 million. I believe both figures seriously understate the huge profits drug barons make. I believe the figure is well over €1 billion because the State and the Garda have never acknowledged the full extent of the drugs crisis and the associated crime wave. Gangland crime, including gangland shootings, are intrinsically linked to the increasing market in heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine and also to hash and ecstasy.

The intimidation of whole communities by the continuing explosion of drug dealing, open drug dealing and the related crime spree has never been effectively tackled. If one looks carefully around most pubs in Dublin today, one will see the open drug dealing or abuse of cocaine, heroin or hash. One will see the drug abusers sniffing, snorting, injecting or smoking in the toilets or sometimes blatantly in full public view. One will see them ringing for their deliveries and dealers' cars pulling up outside to ply their trade. These dealers believe they are untouchable, invincible and the evidence to date shows they are not far wrong.

That cannot be tolerated or go unchecked much longer and if this State is not willing to seriously address this crisis head-on, then the destruction of communities as we saw with the heroin epidemic in the 1980s and early 1990s will be replicated and, as before, communities will have to take to the streets again.

There is no easy fix and no methadone for cocaine. As with heroin or other addictions, it is costly and time consuming to address the reasons for drug abuse, to tackle the addiction and to rebuild the lives of the addicts, their families, their communities and their victims. In 2001, when faced with a crisis which was not going to kill a solitary soul on this island, the whole apparatus of the State was mobilised to shut down the country. The Garda, customs officials, Department officials and the public were involved in preventing the movement of suspects and stopping the trade. This was all for foot and mouth disease.

Where are the emergency measures to tackle a trade which has killed hundreds, if not thousands, over the last 30 years? I welcome the large Garda seizures but I believe they are only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the large amount of hard drugs coming in and poisoning the country daily.

The Garda Síochána could do a lot more to tackle this vile trade. Much of the so-called low level dealing occurs with the full knowledge of gardaí because they give immunity to small scale drug dealers in exchange for information. These are the same drug dealers who threaten neighbours and shoot competitors, bad debtors or anyone who attempts to cross them. These are the invincibles. These scumbags are destroying my country, city, community and my street. The Minister must tackle the large drug barons head on but he must also ensure a parallel operation against the smaller drug dealers, otherwise they will become the replacements for the large drug barons.

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