Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)

I heard what the Minister of State stated and I accept that the case described is exceptional, but I was raising the fact that there does not appear to be anywhere for the young man to go when he is in such an awful state. On the other side of the coin, cocaine is a growing problem throughout the country. We cannot wait for the new drugs strategy to put effective new recommendations into operation. This issue must be addressed more urgently than is currently the case.

In terms of the suffering of individuals and families, is the situation better or worse after ten years of this Government and five years of the Department? One can say it is better in terms of resources and funding, which no one disputes, but we are not keeping pace with the awful problems. Garda figures suggest that drugs with a value of €6.6 million entered my constituency last year. This problem also includes the recreational use of cocaine.

The Minister of State put his finger on the issue when he stated that, to some extent, the national drugs strategy is dated, as it was developed in respect of chronic heroin issue. Unfortunately, figures suggest that heroin use is increasing in my constituency.

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