Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

The Minister of State with responsibility for this area has no idea about what is happening. During his contribution, he referred to a changed landscape and the improving situation. He is the only person who does not know the threat of drugs is greater than ever.

I refer to my experience in the north east. Recently, I was contacted by two mothers separately. Each had a son locked in a bedroom in the town of Dundalk to try to keep them off drugs. They asked me for help because virtually no assistance is provided by the Health Service Executive or other agencies in the region. One doctor and one counsellor are trying to cover the entire region. Both professionals have waiting lists the length of one's arm. One must wait between four weeks and four months for a consultation with either of them. I am forced to refer addicts to the Crossroads Project in Drogheda. The group comprises recovering addicts and sympathetic people. They rented an old shack and renovated it with their own hands to hold their meetings. They received no funding or assistance from any Government agency.

One of the mothers to whom I referred earlier has borrowed money so that she can buy methadone from drug dealers. That is her option to keep her son off heavy drugs. Should I tell that woman on behalf of the House that the Government does not care? Previous speakers, including Government backbenchers, have provided similar examples and the lack of resources is as bad in the south east as the north east. The people involved in the Crossroads Project have attended the funerals of eight drug addicts over the past three years. The oldest person was 34 while the youngest was 21. That age group is caught in this dilemma and the Government is doing too little to deal with this problem. Part of the reason drug addicts die at such a young age is no accommodation is provided for them. They sleep rough in doorways. The only people who offer help to them are the Crossroads administrators and their parents. The Government has abdicated its responsibility in this area.

My party has repeatedly brought the increasing cocaine and crack cocaine crisis to the Government's attention over recent years. Following the publication of the Merchants Quay Project annual report last September, we demanded a fully resourced national action plan to prevent and address cocaine use and its consequences. This was done in the context of the Government's ongoing failure to acknowledge the gravity of the situation. Thankfully, in recent months, a number of Ministers have belatedly accepted there is a cocaine problem, but they continue to underestimate its size and geographical spread.

The Government must learn from the past failure to acknowledge and respond to the emergence of the heroin crisis and the grave consequences of that neglect. Sinn Féin is calling on the Government to formulate, resource and implement an action plan to combat spiralling cocaine use and to do this in partnership with community representatives and groups. This must include granting the local drugs task forces the extra resources to begin addressing cocaine and crack cocaine problems in their areas, as well as the extension of existing successful pilot projects.

The same Minister of State has responsibility for both housing and drugs, two critical portfolios. He is making no headway in dealing with either. It is vital the issue be given the attention of a dedicated Minister of State with sole responsibility for the drugs issue. This must be done soon and the Government must face the crisis that is unfolding across this State by putting proper provisions in place.

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