Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The European Union is cognisant of the problem that has been caused by illegal poppy cultivation and that three quarters of world opium production occurs in Afghanistan. We are also aware of the conflict there and the difficulties in dealing with poppy production in those circumstances. Substantial programmes are being put in place to deal with this issue with the European Union leading them, as well as the World Bank and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization. The only way to deal effectively with the supply side is by providing alternative crops that will give an equal return. There are hundreds of thousands of small farmers producing poppy all over Afghanistan. We have a responsibility ourselves to deal with demand.

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