Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I do not see the community drugs strategy as a failure. We are working with the community and all the statutory agencies. Drugs have not gone away and will not go away in the next year or two. As I said in my reply there may be people who are using drugs for recreational purposes. While on the prevention side we try to provide information to all sectors of society, our strategy is geared towards less well-off areas where people are dealing with illegal drugs and where drugs do most harm.

The Deputy mentioned community policing. By the end of the year we will have 1,400 gardaí. The number of gardaí has rocketed during the past seven or eight years.

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