Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan and the other Deputies who brought forward this comprehensive motion on the serious but neglected issue of drug addiction in this country. I recall and pay tribute to the courageous efforts of our deceased colleague, former Deputy Tony Gregory, to address this scourge in his community. They were, and are, rightly acclaimed. I agree with the call in the motion to prioritise addiction as a health issue, not primarily as a criminal issue, and to ensure the necessary allocation of resources.

Experience shows that economic recessions are usually followed by a drugs crisis. It is therefore essential that the Government makes a significant investment in the fight against drugs. It is economically prudent to do so. In fact, it cannot afford to not do so. Failure to properly invest in and fully implement a comprehensive drugs strategy gives rise to mammoth costs for the Exchequer. The drugs crisis incurs huge costs, including for prison places, crime fighting and accident and emergency departments, not to mention the human cost to individuals, families, communities and society.

In 2009, Sinn Féin launched its priorities for the national drugs strategy for 2009 to 2016. We believe they are still very relevant today. Cuts in funding to local and regional drugs task forces which have taken place in recent years are nothing short of a disgrace and an abandonment of the State's duties to its citizens. These task forces are the front line in the battle against drugs. They have been abandoned by the State in the face of increased intimidation from drug peddlers peddling new and ever more addictive drugs.

The main priority in any approach to tackling drugs must focus on early intervention and prevention. The communities and families at risk from drugs are easily identifiable, and this is where resources must be targeted. Approximately €14 million were seized under the proceeds of crime legislation between 2006 and 2010. We have asked the Government on numerous occasions to retain this money for community development purposes. This is the money taken from drug dealers and criminals who are profiting from the communities they are decimating.

It is Sinn Féin's view that this money should be set aside for the communities that have been worst affected by the drugs trade, for example, for use as a funding mechanism for the local drugs task force to undertake short to medium-term projects. The Government has cut community funding in general but the current legislation allows for all money collected by the Criminal Assets Bureau to be returned to the Exchequer in accordance with the provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Acts 1996 and 2005. The funds are then paid into the Government Central Fund, from which the Government draws its expenditure. I appeal to the Minister of State at the Department of Health, whom I wish well in his new responsibilities, for the Government to show the political will to fund these much-needed community organisations. It could be done very easily by amending the Proceeds of Crime Acts. It is a step we in Sinn Féin would not only welcome but enthusiastically support.

I reaffirm Sinn Féin's call on the Government to introduce this mechanism to fund local drugs task forces and community groups which are at the coalface of dealing with the scourge presented by the drugs epidemic in these communities.

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