Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I appreciate the constructive points made by Deputy Kenny. I will not stand here and say I am happy with the situation because the enforcement powers must be used. I have seen the Garda take a tough line by going to the courts and using its powers to close licensed premises in which it believes there is regular drug-taking, or at least activities around it. However, we need to see far more than that. If there are premises that are tolerant towards this activity or in which illicit drugs of any kind are used, tough measures must be taken. I do not want to say that the Garda does not already do that in some cases. In the case of under-age drinking the Garda has strong powers. I am not saying that under-age drinking should be tolerated, but if we can close down a place for abuse of the law on under-age drinking, it is even more important that tough measures are taken where the sale, distribution or use of drugs is taking place.

That is not happening in a large number of places, although I accept the points made about percentages in the "Prime Time Investigates" programme. There are not many places in any community that have a reputation for being druggie houses, as they are commonly known, although that activity may be taking place in secret. The Garda is capable of taking tough action. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has told the Garda in meetings since the summer, as the previous Minister and the one before that said, if extra powers are necessary to make it easier for the Garda to remove licences, they will be granted. I would say the same thing with regard to nightclubs. If large pubs or nightclubs do not work towards improvement in this area, they should be put out of business for six months. They would not like that, but we must consider measures such as this. I do not want to go around waving every stick unless it is necessary, but we will take measures that are necessary. Six months with no licence would cause owners of premises to lose their incomes, which is another issue.

These activities are taking place not only in pubs and nightclubs but also in homes and at parties. Nobody wants to be a spoilsport coming up to the Christmas period, but drug-taking at parties cannot be tolerated. The stories cannot all be wrong. I am not saying it is happening at every party or at 10% of parties, but everybody cannot be wrong, including Members of this House. The Minister of State at the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Pat Carey, has a strong knowledge of this as he spends every hour of the day with groups active in this area. I am told that crystal meth, the new drug on the beat, puts cocaine into a different perspective. It can cause enormous damage. Cocaine causes major damage to the liver and the heart. Altogether, 120 people are killed every year by drugs. If we need to strengthen our laws, we can do so. This is an issue about which the Garda and society must be serious. The message from this House is that we will take a tough line.

The current focus on this issue is welcome. This is not a new problem. I accept that it did not start this week or last week. We must be tough as a society. The powers are there. The legislation provides for ten-year or 14-year sentences for certain drugs offences. People can serve longer sentences for offences of this type than for murder. This has been provided in the legislation for a long time. As pointed out by the Garda, many people are already behind bars, including a number of gang members. Catching offenders is the difficulty, but there is a significant success rate. People are being put behind bars for 14 years, although we would like to see far more of them. That is the message from this House.

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