Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Under the strategy, the Garda national drug unit is co-ordinating large-scale operations against drug dealing and trafficking. Additional assistance is being made available from specialised Garda support units. The Government has given considerable resources to the National Bureau of Criminal Investigations, the Bureau of Fraud Investigation and the Criminal Assets Bureau because practically all the drugs used here come into the country. The Garda Síochána, the Customs service and the Navy have been instrumental in establishing, earlier this year, a marine analysis and operations centre on narcotics which operates out of Lisbon. The centre will focus on intelligence and at local level the Garda has the national drugs unit, the Criminal Assets Bureau initiative which was set up. This year it is including in its policing priorities for 2008, the Garda is represented on the local and regional drug task forces which is important in so far as having area and national plans are concerned. The Garda has made provision for joint policing committees in local communities and they are being spread up around the country which is hugely important in working with parents and young people to try to deal with the problem.

A number of very valid points were made last week. I understand that following last week's debate on the national drugs strategy and statements by the Minister of State, Deputy Carey, there were 5,000 hits on the Crosscare drug awareness website. This shows the demand for information on the dangers of drug misuse and learning how to deal with it. This came about because of the debate here and the initiatives run by the Irish Examiner the previous week and last week. The challenges posed by cocaine use are significant but we are confident we can meet these challenges through a co-ordinated approach utilising the structures of the national drugs strategy. On the positive side, a recent report concludes that the treatment of cocaine misuse, primarily in the form of counselling, can and does work. My last point, which relates to the first point I made, is that all of us have a responsibility and a job to try to remove what was — but which has diminished a little — the glamourisation of cocaine and its use as a recreational drug. Regardless of what sector one comes from this is seen as an acceptable form of Friday night and Saturday night activity. Anything we can do, as the debate did successfully last week, to remove the glamour, recreational and social aspects from it would be a good day's work.

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