Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

The recently published joint study of Europol and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, EMCDDA, on the cocaine market is very useful in providing insight into how cocaine is produced and trafficked into the European Union and in highlighting the scale of the problem in Europe. The report also refers to some of the specific supply reduction initiatives that have been developed at European level in response to such trafficking. The Maritime Analysis and Operational Centre, MAOC-N, of which Ireland is a founding and active member is one such focused initiative which has the specific objective of intercepting narcotic shipments, in particular cocaine, to the European Union from Latin America, and the value of its work has already been clearly demonstrated.

The Europol-EMCDDA shows the scale of cocaine use in Europe, that such activity is by no means unique to Ireland and that the overall problem of drug misuse remains one of the most complex social ills faced globally. In terms of the Irish drug seizure and prevalence data referred to in the report, I have been advised by the Office of the Minister for Drugs that the data used to compile the report relate to 2001 to 2007. In common with many other European countries, our cocaine seizures and prevalence increased over that period, but the latest available data show a decrease in the volume of cocaine being seized here and that the numbers presenting for treatment in respect of cocaine use have stabilised in the last two years.

This is not to suggest in any way that I am complacent about addressing the problem. Efforts to tackle the issue of cocaine and other drug misuse have been broadly based to include measures aimed at both supply and demand reduction. A range of measures is being delivered by the Government and agencies, drug task forces and community-based projects to tackle the problem. Specifically, on the law enforcement side, drugs and organised crime are being prioritised by the Garda Síochána as a core focus for 2010, through the Commissioner's policing plan, which reflects Government strategies contained in our drugs strategy. Drugs units are in place in every Garda division which work in partnership with the Garda national drugs unit in tackling and targeting drug-related crime. Divisional and district policing plans also reflect the focus of the national policing plan in terms of drugs law enforcement.

However, it is clear we cannot tackle the problem of drug misuse through law enforcement measures alone. As set out in the Government's new interim national drugs strategy for the period 2009 to 2016, it is vital to address the problem in a co-ordinated way across the pillars of supply reduction, prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and research. I assure the Deputy that my Department, and all the agencies under its aegis, remain fully committed to this approach and to the implementation of the strategy.

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