Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We will support the Bill. I thank the Minister and his officials for the information provided to us in recent hours in preparation for the debate. The most reassuring aspect of the Minister's speech is the fact that the Department was aware of the situation and had prepared for this potential finding of the Court of Appeal following the challenge that was taken. While it is emergency legislation, its preparation was not done in a panicked manner or under pressure of time. It has been thought out and has received the full support of law officers and the Attorney General. In that context it is unlikely that any amendments will be tabled by the Opposition.

However, it brings us to the broader issue of head shops and psychoactive drugs and substances that were freely available in this country for many years. Such drugs had a devastating impact on people who were using or abusing them. The challenge we face, with the advances in clandestine laboratories and the willingness of people to participate in this illicit trade, is to be one step ahead or as close to that as possible of people who are engaged in this nefarious activity in terms of designer drugs and psychoactive drugs. That will be a consistent challenge that must be addressed nationally and internationally. The European Union has a key role to play in the area.

We must provide time for a debate in this House on drugs in broader society as there is a view that we have taken our eye off the ball in terms of addressing the problems of drug abuse and drug addiction. Methadone, which is a substitute drug, is very often the only solution provided to heroin addicts. It is time for us to re-evaluate our drugs strategy, and assess it to see what is working and what is not working. It is clear that a continuous number of people fall into opiate abuse on a regular basis. Society must have a mature debate on drugs, how we fight them and how we support people who are addicted to them, as well as how we address the broader societal issues that lead people down that particular cul-de-sac. That is something on which we can no longer prevaricate or delay. An urgent response is required in terms of setting up a full review of our programmes, community supports, medical supports, therapies available to drug addicts and, on the criminal justice side, the supports available to An Garda Síochána and other law officers of the State in terms of combatting drug importation and manufacturing in this country. While the Bill deals with a specific issue in terms of the finding of the Court of Appeal, in a sense we need to ensure we do not just park the Bill and assume that everything will be fine again.

We face a serious challenge on which members of the public are calling for and require a debate. More important, the Oireachtas must decide whether to support the current national drugs strategy, which has, arguably, slipped down the Government's list of priorities. I make this observation because the strategy lacks a focal point. The current cross-departmental approach means the Departments of Health, Social Protection, Education and Skills and the Environment, Community and Local Government are all involved in the fight against drugs, as are local authorities and numerous agencies. A central focal point is required to pull together all the relevant Departments and State agencies to ensure the drugs strategy is targeted, cohesive, effective, nuanced and innovative.

While I do not necessarily advocate the decriminalisation of drugs, the question as to whether the criminalisation of all drugs has had the desired outcome has been considered elsewhere. Lessons can be learned, including with regard to providing more health supports for drug addicts and better access to support programmes. The fact that drug addicts are involved in criminal activity means they are often reluctant to present when they require medical or therapeutic support. We have a revolving door system whereby drug addicts are arrested and processed, engage in a rehabilitation programme and are then returned to their previous environment. This frequently means poor accommodation and a lack of support, and the result is a return to addiction. We need to have a discussion of this issue soon.

A Minister with specific responsibility for drugs is required. He or she should either implement the recommendations of the task force on drugs or assess whether a new drugs strategy is needed. The latter scenario would require considerable time, effort and energy, with a central focus to ensure any future strategy is responsive to the needs and demands of society, including drug users and abusers. I urge the Minister to immediately prioritise a full review of the drugs strategy to facilitate a debate on how to address drug issues.

The Minister spoke in detail about the Bill, and I do not propose to dwell on it other than to note that head shops were a cause of serious public concern and anxiety. The issue was raised in the Oireachtas on numerous occasions, leading to a Government effort to address the specific issue of psychoactive drugs being freely available in head shops. As the Minister stated, the fact that such drugs could be sold legally appeared to indicate that they were not especially harmful. The Court of Appeal, which is in its infancy, has made a finding that will increase public awareness of the new court. Its ruling will have implications not only for the Misuse of Drugs Act but also for other legislation, because I am sure many Acts passed by the Oireachtas will be challenged on foot of it. I assume a broader trawl of legislation will take place to address weaknesses that could result in various Acts being found to be repugnant to the Constitution. Such a trawl should be done quickly.

Once the Bill completes its passage in both Houses, I urge that it be quickly referred to the President for his signature. The Fianna Fáil Party will support the Minister to ensure this is done as we do not want to unduly delay the Bill.

The separation of powers between the Oireachtas, the Executive and the Judiciary is necessary. When the Oireachtas or the Government overreaches its powers, it is important that there is a mechanism in place to correct this.

I have previously had cause to raise an issue related to mandatory sentencing. The Oireachtas has passed legislation providing for the imposition of mandatory sentences for offences involving the sale of drugs over a certain street value. Provision has been made for the courts to take account of certain mitigating circumstances such as guilty pleas or the provision by the convicted person of assistance to the authorities in progressing an investigation. The general principle involved has not been accepted or endorsed by the courts in handing down sentences. I raised this concern with the Presidents of the High Court and Circuit Court. There was a practice whereby members of the Judiciary read Second Stage speeches to ensure their interpretation of legislation was based not only on the text of the Act but also on a general understanding of the policies and principles underpinning it. This practice has become a little frayed with regard to some of the legislation that has not stood up to a court challenge or has not been implemented in the manner the Oireachtas assumed it would be implemented. Mandatory sentencing is a case in point.

Drugs present a significant challenge, and the Oireachtas and the courts should do everything possible to send out a strong message that those who are prosecuted and found guilty of drug crimes will find little favour in the courts. A deterrent is required to discourage this nefarious activity, which involves large sums of money. The drugs trade has become a massive international criminal racket that does not recognise borders and funds and supports other activities. It is also linked to other criminal activities, such as people trafficking and prostitution, that transgress human rights and destroy communities. For this reason, when we speak of having a strategy, a policy or even a philosophy for dealing with drugs, the sentiments expressed by Members of the Oireachtas should find some resonance when laws are being interpreted and sentences handed down to those who breach them. Sometimes the sentences imposed on those who have been found guilty in a court of law do not reflect the serious impact their activities have on individuals and society.

The Oireachtas is obliged to give all possible support to An Garda Síochána and other agencies of the State in processing and prosecuting crime. It is also obliged to put in place a strong legislative underpinning for the Judiciary and send out a strong message on sentencing to ensure those involved in large-scale drug importation and distribution will find no favour in the courts. I feel very strongly about this issue. If it is ignored, as has been the case, the Oireachtas must revisit the relevant legislation to find a way to encourage and direct the Judiciary without interfering with its independence.

If, as the Minister states, the Bill has been thought through and drafted and assessed by the Attorney General on the basis that the Court of Appeal could find against the State in the case involving the principal legislation, I see no reason to table any amendments.

Again, I go back to the central theme of what I have been saying, that is the misuse of drugs and the challenges facing us and the Minister for Health in respect of his obligations to ensure that every support is given to people who are addicted to drugs, especially heroin, crystal meth and others. These people are finding it singularly difficult to kick the habit. It is bad enough to try to kick it with all the supports, but to try to kick it without supports or the wrong supports can end up placing people back into the same environment they came from. Simply trying to beat these addictions is not good enough. It does the individuals no favours and can do society collectively considerable damage as well. From that perspective I urge the Minister to request the appointment of a Minister of State with responsibility for drugs in his Department or some other Department. A Minister of State in that role would be able to bring together all the agencies, policies and supports that should be in place and, where there are deficiencies, he could address the issues.

There is a broader issue in respect of how we deal with the problem and the supports, including the methadone programme and other therapies available to drug addicts. I believe the programme is simply not working. Often, we are simply giving people methadone in the hope that they will not annoy us on the street and that we can ignore them when we walk past them. They will simply continue on. We continually feed them methadone but then they fall out of the programme. Subsequently, there is a prosecution and they are back into the system only to be back out of it again later. I question whether we have a system that is fit-for-purpose, one tailormade to the individual addict and which is client-focused or patient-focused, whatever way we choose to refer to it. Anyway, a clear pathway should be put in place for every individual patient and drug addict. Methadone may not always be suitable for individuals. Other substitutes should be considered as well. One of the reasons they do this is because methadone is cheap. It is easy for them to line up at the addiction clinic. They hand out the sugar-based methadone and off they go on their merry way. I believe that is fundamentally wrong. It is not what society expects of us. Rather, we should try to help people who are living destroyed lives. Many of the people presenting want to kick the habit. They want to get free and clean and get back to engage in society. That in itself is something we must observe and address quickly.

I commend the Bill to the House. We will be supporting it. We will try to do anything we can to help in other areas or in respect of statutes that are deemed open to question or that potentially could be challenged because of the findings of the Court of Appeal. I commend and support the Bill.

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