Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Tá mé ag tabhairt tacaíochta don rún seo ó na Teachtaí Neamhspleácha agus molaim iad as an rún seo a chur os comhair na Dála. Measaim gur léir ón leasú nach bhfuil an Rialtas sásta tacú leis. Ní raibh sé sásta tacú le rún cosúil leis seo a chuir muid os comhair na Dála i mí Mheithimh i mbliana a bhí ag impí ar an Rialtas ceist na ndrugaí sa tír seo a thógáil dáiríre. Muna ndéanann sé sin, tá todhchaí uafásach do cheantair sa chathair seo agus a lán bailte lasmuigh de Bhaile Átha Cliath.

I support this motion. I apologise to my colleagues in the Technical Group because some Sinn Féin Members will be unable to lend their support to the motion tomorrow evening as a number of us will be travelling to Scotland for the forthcoming talks.

Although Sinn Féin tabled a similar motion on the drugs issue in May that also raised the seriousness of this issue, the Government was unwilling to listen. At the time, we highlighted the failure of the Health Service Executive to provide harm reduction facilities throughout the State. We also highlighted the emergence of a trade in crack cocaine, the high levels of crime fuelled by the drugs trade, the issue of rights for grandparents who care for the children of their addict sons and daughters, the issue of resources for the Garda Síochána to tackle drugs and drug crime and the provision of resources for educational programmes and campaigns for children, parents and communities as a whole.

Had that motion been accepted, it would have underpinned an effective response to this growing crisis. The motion now under discussion again reminds the Government of this crucial issue for our society. In the main, it focuses on the crucial supply issue, which constitutes one of the pillars of the Government's national strategy and on which it has failed miserably. Although the Government's amendment asserts that An Garda Síochána and Customs and Excise authorities are exceeding their drugs supply reduction targets, anyone travelling through Dublin or anywhere else knows this to be an absolute lie. Such agencies cannot be addressing reduction because there are more drugs available than was the case before the national strategy was meant to take effect. There are increasing levels of drugs in every town and village. This is the scale of the failure of the Government to tackle this major crisis.

A number of high profile stories and revelations have made the news in recent weeks, including the seizure of heroin worth €10 million which was en route on a private aeroplane through a private airfield both owned by Jim Mansfield. This makes it clear that the heroin problem still amounts to a crisis. While one hears more about cocaine than heroin in the tabloid press, the latter still ravages communities in this city and beyond. The Government must get real in respect of heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine and ecstasy in particular, as well as all other illegal drugs.

Last week, a report was published on illegal drug use in counties Cork and Kerry that found that the percentage of people who had used illegal drugs in the HSE south area had doubled from 16% in 1996 to 34% in 2004. There is "the reduction" for the Minister of State. The numbers who have used cocaine, crack, speed and ecstasy in that area have increased fourfold in the same period. The report again demonstrates that all-pervasive geographical reality of drug use in today's Ireland.

While the Government may hope to continue to downplay the gravity of the situation, any attempt to so do simply will not wash with members of the public, who know how it affects their communities. The communities which are worst affected by drugs and drug-related crime have long recognised the extent of the problem and have sought, through many different organisations, to try to change it. Sometimes, they have had some success, in that the Government has listened. However, it is extremely slow to listen and has not directed the proper resources to deal with the issue.

Recently, Operation Marigold led to charges being brought against approximately 30 drug dealers. However, many others remain on the streets and still ply their trade openly in Ballyfermot, the Liberties, the north inner city or in any working class community in this city in particular. Such people may be seen plying their trade openly on the street by day, at night and at the weekend. It is like meals on wheels, in that one telephones in advance and the order is delivered to one's pub of choice. This is the scale of the cocaine problem in Dublin. Heroin, ecstasy and crack are available wherever one wants in this city and, in some parts of Ballyfermot and the Liberties, it is like a supermarket. In the north inner city, one goes to different places for different drugs. In some cases, the same drug dealer deals from different pockets. In some pubs, the drugs for sale depend on the table one visits.

Members should consider the effects of drugs to ascertain the seriousness with which the Government should take this issue. It loses millions because money must be diverted from other fields in terms of the requirements of the Garda Síochána and Customs and Excise to deal with this issue, as well as in terms of education, broken homes, health and the health problems we will bequeath to future generations because of our unwillingness to tackle drugs supply and the effects drugs have on people. I refer to broken homes, abandoned children, health problems such as HIV, AIDS or other complications due to drugs, high crime levels, dereliction in some areas, deprivation and the running down of community spirit. While these examples are from my own constituency, all Members could give examples from their constituencies. There is a lack of confidence among community organisations because the State does not appear to care. The State ignores them.

The illicit drugs market and gangland crime, including gangland shootings, are intrinsically linked. While dealing with heroin-related crime was hard enough, cocaine and crack have appeared and have hit this city much harder than any Minister has been willing to admit. One need only consider the problems in both Limerick and my own constituency in respect of gangland shootings. The dangerous feuds in such areas have needlessly and prematurely taken the lives of young men who have been caught up in the spiralling tit-for-tat violence associated with drug dealing and with the cocaine trade in particular. It is the same throughout the world and while some might say they deserve their fate or the more the merrier, I do not share their views. These are young men with families who deserve to be brought up in a different environment and who have been led astray.

No one in his or her right mind would tolerate the drug wars that are taking place, the taking of these young lives, or the frequent taking of innocent lives, such as that of a young Coolock woman earlier this year. While life may be cheap for those young thugs, all Members must do their best to prevent our society from falling into the abyss which faces us. It may be glimpsed in societies in the United States, England and elsewhere in the world which have been riven by drugs for much longer than has Ireland. Unless this is done now and unless the drugs crisis is taken seriously before we move beyond the point of no return, we will end up in the same place.

Any meaningful attempt to prevent gangland crime and shootings will be dependent on effective steps being taken to tackle the supply of drugs and the demand of the drugs market at an international, national and local level. Operation Marigold and Operation Anvil must be properly resourced if their effectiveness in terms of meeting their complementary objectives is to be improved. Proper resources need to be dedicated to the local drugs units, the Garda liaison officers and the Garda national drugs unit. This can be achieved by targeting Garda resources properly and providing for the civilianisation of appropriate tasks. The Government needs to recognise the seriousness of this problem, which it has failed to do up to now. I commend this motion to the House. I hope the Government will withdraw its amendment and support the motion.

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