Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)

I thank the Minister of State for his detailed reply. This item has caught the attention of people in every town, village and city in the country. There are many different views on the subject. I have a similar view to the Minister of State that this must be addressed urgently, yet his former colleague Deputy McDaid said last week that it would be a mistake to ban head shops, because we would be driving the sale of these products into the black market which would be controlled by drug dealers. We have seen head shops vandalised and burned in Dublin and Deputy Costello is so concerned that he is seeking to bring a Private Members' Bill to the Dáil on the issue.

We must not delay on this. The Minister of State has said that the legislation may have to go to the EU. When will it be ready? Will the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government be dealing with the planning aspects of this, or will the local authorities have to deal with the matter? Protest marches have taken place over the last few days in Castlebar and other places on the issue, so it must be addressed quickly. Kids from schools are frequenting these places, so every aspect of the legislation must be covered.

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