Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

The use of cocaine is worrying. There is no point in pretending otherwise. It is now a phenomenon across all social classes. That was highlighted in the Rehab Group report and in the report on cocaine which was published earlier this year. There are measures and pilot projects, including four cocaine-specific initiatives. There is one in Blanchardstown and another in the south inner city. I do not recall where the others are at the moment. I will come back to the Deputy on that issue. These projects are being used to develop best practice in the area of treatment for cocaine use.

In the wider area of treatment, there are very good community-based interventions in terms of holistic therapies, cognitive behaviour therapies, acupuncture and so on, which are proving quite successful. That, however, will not be enough. We need to have further interventions. Ireland ranks fifth highest in terms of the increase in cocaine use. It remains considerably behind the United Kingdom and Spain, which is no great consolation. The track of cocaine coming from South America has changed. The current route to mainland Europe is through Colombia, west Africa and Mediterranean countries. The Garda Síochána seized 18 kilogrammes of cocaine in 2002. Some 190,000 kilogrammes with a street value of €13 million were seized in 2006. That is an enormous increase and very worrying.

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