Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Fully 70% of the world's heroin comes from Afghanistan. Many Members are familiar with the effects of heroin and we have all stood at too many graves and attended too many funerals as a result of the effects of the drug. I am old enough to remember the cheap heroin on the streets of Dublin and concerned that this will happen again. The Minister of State has referred to ongoing discussions and said we are looking at a strategy and so on. However, I do not get any sense of urgency. In recent years the poppy cultivation problem has got bigger and bigger and many countries in the region are keen to work with the European Union. The Iranian Minister has said he is keen to work with it. A policy was in place in that regard, but it is not happening now. Will the Minister of State give the House some sense that there is urgency in addressing this matter? Will the Government reflect that urgency and start to do something concrete and constructive in respect of the potential problem coming down the track into this city?

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