Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, but we are losing the battle against drugs. No longer an urban phenomenon, the drugs issue is widespread and will demand more concerted and direct action.

The national drugs unit sent some of its people to Tralee in County Kerry some time ago and they were successful. A large number of convictions were achieved principally because members of the local drugs unit, while effective, are well known by the drug pushers. The national unit's people spent a weekend going into bars and got a large number of convictions. They should be sent all over the country. There must be an interdepartmental approach to this matter.

Last night, I watched the film about Veronica Guerin, who took on the drug barons in the mid-1990s. Unfortunately, she put so much pressure on them that they murdered her. If the Garda had the resources to put drug barons under similar pressure, they would not murder gardaí and would be weeded out where possible. We should take a lesson from the film, that is, while her bravery and courage cost her her life, she proved that putting the people in question under pressure is the only way to eliminate them.

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