Mary Upton (Dublin South Central, Labour)

I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Pat Carey, on his appointment to this portfolio. I wish him well. I also acknowledge his generous availability in my constituency. His visits to communities there are welcomed and appreciated.

I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate. Every year, in different parts of my constituency, I attend commemoration services for people who have died from drug addiction. These events include memorial Masses, the production of quilts that are carefully and lovingly embossed with the names of the deceased and tree planting ceremonies. Invariably, the attendance includes the families, parents, partners, siblings and children of the addict. It is important for the families that this commemoration is available to them and it helps them in their grief. However, the message must be that we should not have to have these commemoration ceremonies. We must put an end to the misery and destruction caused by drugs in our communities.

My heart sinks when I look around and see the level of open drug-dealing going on in the streets and laneways of this city and in many pockets of my constituency. Modern technology has aided and abetted the drug dealers. The use of mobile phones has been a significant contributing factor in their battle against the system. Then, of course, there are those who are pushing back the frontiers in the manufacture of illicit chemicals. They are clever, immoral and greedy and they care not a whit for the consequences of their actions. Much of this technological development takes place in other countries, but we do hear regular reports of such activities here, often taking place in a garage or garden shed. It is not high-tech but with enough know-how they are able to concoct these lethal cocktails with which they proceed to exploit anybody unfortunate enough to fall into their clutches. These people need to be hunted down, brought to book and made to pay for their crimes. I am not recommending the banning of mobile phones or putting a stop to research, but I am pointing out the challenges that are now commonplace and give advantage to the criminal element which is ready and able and has sufficient resources to exploit such technology.

This morning, Deputy Pat Rabbitte introduced two Bills designed to combat serious crime. I hope we will get the opportunity to debate these Bills in the near future. The witness protection programme urgently needs to be placed on a statutory basis and nowhere is such protection more needed than in dealing with the major, and some lesser, criminals who are destroying the lives and security of many decent and long-suffering people in our communities. Much of this criminality is based on drug-dealing. The second Bill is designed to give the Garda the power to undertake electronic surveillance of criminal suspects. Gangland killings most frequently have their origins in the illicit drug trade and whatever powers are needed by the Garda should be made available to ensure that these criminals and murderers are caught, charged and convicted. The dealers swagger around in their big cars, live in posh houses and seem to have absolutely no difficulty getting access to guns, organising hit-men and moving on to their next unfortunate targets. We need these two pieces of legislation to reassure our communities and to catch and remove the drug-dealing parasites from these communities.

In addition to these Bills, there is also a need for enhancement of basic policing activity. Local residents who suffer due to low-grade drug-dealing activity in their communities always tell me that the presence of community gardaí is the only effective deterrent to this kind of activity. In addition, the presence of community gardaí reassures people who are frightened and vulnerable and who most often become unfortunate targets. It is also the case that good local police work is often underrated. It can make a significant contribution to knowledge and information on local criminal activity. More patrols, more visibility and more support for the community gardaí are fundamental to driving out the pushers and dealers.

I particularly wish to draw the Minister of State's attention to the need for support and intervention for families who live in disadvantaged areas. I speak of positive intervention to support individual parents and families who, for whatever reason, including drug-related problems, are unable to look after their children on their own. Is it acceptable that small children are left literally to their own devices? They never get a decent meal, they are frequently missing from school and they do not participate in any structured way in what might be called normal society. I raise this point because I know of such children. They will never have a chance to participate in a normal home environment. Not all, but very many of these children come from homes in which drug addiction is, unfortunately, the norm. I speak of all drugs including alcohol. I challenge the Minister to ensure that the provision of the services needed to give these children a chance is undertaken as a priority. Without this intervention, the vicious cycle of dysfunction, misery, illiteracy and all the attendant problems will continue.

There is a need for intervention in many areas of the drugs business, but I am convinced that unless positive support is provided within the family home no real progress will be made. Children, I am told, frequently see school as their only safe haven. They have a decent breakfast, some order and structure, and a bit of security. However, at 2.30 p.m. or 3.30 p.m. they return to the dysfunction within their own families. I ask the Minister to consider this and to do whatever research is required, access all the facts and provide the resources to deliver for these children. They are the innocent victims, directly or indirectly, of the vicious drug barons, at whatever remove it may be.

Increasingly, heroin use is no longer confined to the Dublin area. It is one of the major drugs that has blighted communities for a long time. Serious heroin problems are now reported not only in our cities, but also in towns around the country. Everybody who has spoken on this today, no matter what part of the country they represent, is unfortunately only too well aware of the drug problems within their own communities.

The issues surrounding the drugs business have been identified by everyone who has spoken. The laws of supply and demand apply to drug dealing as to any other commodity. Unfortunately, the consequences of this type of dealing are quite different from those of other trading activities. We are talking about a business which is being run by dealers and drug barons. The consequences, which bear repeating, include some of all of the following: drug addiction; health problems, including hepatitis and HIV, and eventually death; job loss; unemployment; anti-social behaviour; robbery, violence, murder and intimidation; homelessness; fear and intimidation within the community; family destruction, breaking up of homes and neglect of children; and all-round, absolute misery. These consequences, unfortunately, are widespread in the communities that suffer due to the drugs problem.

It is not just the drug user that suffers. The net is spread far and wide and draws in the vulnerable, the disadvantaged, the young and the innocent. The list I just gave relates mostly to illegal drugs, but let us not forget the legal drug that is alcohol and the effects of abuse of that drug. Recent proposals have made a case for legalisation of certain so-called soft drugs. Let us knock that on the head. As a society, we have enough trouble dealing with the legal drug of alcohol. That issue has been rehearsed by other speakers.

I welcome many aspects of the work of the drugs task force, including the roll-out of treatment places and the methadone scheme. The increased use of GPs and pharmacies has helped within communities. We need closer monitoring of our ports and coastal waters and investigation of the methods used to obtain drugs and introduce them into our communities. The issue of drugs in prisons may have been raised already, but it is an important point that needs to be considered. We must try to get to grips with this problem. Ex-prisoners need to be rehabilitated, managed within the community and given the security and support they need to break away and stay away from drug addiction.

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