Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I accept there is more cocaine coming into the country, though much of the usage is on the recreational level. Not many more people are seeking services in the area, and those who are were on heroin already and were in contact with the staff.

Clearly there are links between drugs and violence, and that was the case in the past, certainly anecdotally in Dublin constituencies. The attitude is that ten years ago, more drug abusers got the money for their next fix by robbing and mugging, but methadone has helped to solve that problem and stabilise people. Perhaps we have not had great success in getting people off methadone and more needs to be need done in that regard, but it has taken people away from crime in the short term.

I appreciate what Deputy O'Shea said about jobs. Last week I launched a project in Dublin about getting drug misusers back into employment. There are a couple of such projects in different parts of Dublin. Employers have in general taken the opportunity to give jobs to drug misusers who have become stabilised. Employers may have perceptions and misconceptions about what might happen, but once they are happy that they can ring me, Deputy O'Shea or whoever in the event that the employee has a problem and that we will take these people off their hands, so to speak, certain employers are prepared to go ahead and take a chance for stabilised drug misusers.

The mid-term review showed that the approach was a little too centred on putting people on methadone. The rehabilitation sub-committee has been set up to pull all those bits and pieces together and show that methadone is not a long-term solution. One needs to stabilise drug misusers, to look at retraining and getting them back into work so that they can make a contribution to their communities and families. That is the direction we are trying to take.

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