Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)

There was a fire on Capel Street last Friday, and €500,000 was found in a safe. It is clear that substantial amounts of money are being made by the operation of head shops in this country. On the Order of Business last Thursday week, I asked the Tánaiste if she would seek clarification about the problem with the UK legislation in respect of the secondary legislation being produced by the Minister for Health and Children and the Taoiseach on this issue. My understanding is that the UK Government had not sought prior EU approval on secondary legislation. The Government here is delaying the introduction of secondary legislation until that EU approval is obtained, which will take three months from the end of this month.

Will the Taoiseach expedite this matter, and ensure he and the Minister for Health and Children sign the secondary legislation in advance of it going to Brussels for approval? If he does not do this, the chemicals that have now been banned in the UK will be dumped on the market here. The operators here will have three months to get rid of them and will sell them at cost to get them out the door. This will compound the problem we have with head shops here.

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