Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I join the Taoiseach and Deputy Kenny in commiserating with the families who have lost loved ones in the past week or so and the families of those who are still ill, the most recent victims of drugs in our society.

I was glad to hear the Taoiseach's second reply to Deputy Kenny because I was a little concerned when I heard his first reply that there may have been a sense of playing down the seriousness of the cocaine problem in this country. A number of people have been commenting on the events of the past week as representing a watershed, particularly in terms of emphasising that cocaine is not a safe or acceptable drug. There is much talk about a bad batch doing the rounds. There is no such thing as a good batch of cocaine. We have seen in recent years a dramatic increase in the supply of cocaine in this country. Convictions are up fourfold and seizures have risen by a factor of nearly 20. Large amounts of cocaine are being seized. A total of 70% of waste water in Dublin is contaminated with cocaine. We saw the excellent "Prime Time Investigates" programme on this subject last night, which showed us how widespread is the use of cocaine in our society.

The Labour Party wishes to support the actions of the Government in this area. I have great respect for the Minister of State, Deputy Carey. We support his comments and his efforts and I hope the Government will do likewise. There are, however, a number of legislative measures that need to be taken. I referred to some of these during previous Leaders' Questions. We must smash the supply chains for cocaine and other illicit drugs. We must smash the drug barons and gangs who are supplying drugs in our society. I ask the Taoiseach to consider, in the positive sense in which I make this suggestion, two legislative measures that have been advanced by the Labour Party in recent times, the Witness Protection Programme Bill and the Garda Síochána (Powers of Surveillance) Bill, which was recently published by Deputy Rabbitte. These two measures would help in the effort to smash the drugs gangs and the supply of drugs in this country.

Will the Taoiseach consider the anomaly in terms of the powers of the Garda under the licensing laws and its powers to deal with suspected drugs offences? It is an anomaly that, under licensing legislation, a garda can enter a public house, licensed premises or night club without a warrant to inspect whether there is a breach of the licensing laws. However, if the garda wants to examine whether drugs are being used in toilets or generally on the premises, he or she must get a warrant. Some legislative change could be made in this respect to allow gardaí more freedom and ability to deal with the problem.

I accept the Taoiseach's point that much of this transpires in private houses, at private parties and so on, but there is an anomaly in the powers of the Garda under licensing laws and its general powers regarding clubs and places of entertainment. Will the Taoiseach examine these matters as a way to deal with the issue?

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