Derek Keating (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased that the Government has moved swiftly to close off the legal lacuna that has emerged since the decision of the Court of Appeal today. Like many others on hearing this news, I feared a return to the situation that existed in the past when so-called head shops would openly sell unregulated substances to our young people as so-called legal highs which in reality were near lethal doses of unregulated chemical compounds. A legacy of death was associated with these shops and they operated with impunity. As one group of substances was removed from the market through legislation, another similar compound would emerge to replace it. More would die or have their lives maimed by these drugs in the mistaken belief that not illegal meant legal and therefore safe. I have dealt with the families, spouses and children of those people whose lives were blighted by the chemical toxins ingested by their loved ones who were killed, bound by addiction, tainted by overdose or had their physical or mental health ruined by the drugs that are in a Schedule to the Bill or are included in the statutory instruments listed in Schedule 2.

I urge all parties to support the Bill and assist its passage through this House and the Seanad tomorrow. Doing so will save lives. This Bill cannot bring back those who died as result of not knowing what these substances would do to them. It cannot bring back the youth of this country who died as a result of suicide while addicted to these substances or restore the health of those damaged by use of these chemicals, but it can prevent a return to the frenetic days when there was no regulation of these toxic chemicals, which were not then illegal.

The words that were bandied about to describe the drugs such as "designer" and "legal highs" gave a credibility to the substances that belied their nature. According to research published by EUROSTAT in 2011, young people in Ireland were by far the most likely to say they had used substances that imitated the effects of illicit drugs. At 16% this was the highest level of access to those substances in the EU where the average was 5%. Legal highs were a growing problem in Ireland and throughout Europe and it was found that young people were most at risk. With a borderless Internal Market, we needed to copperfasten the protection. Research showed that the number of new substances detected in the EU had tripled between 2009 and 2012. By 2013, more than one new substance had been reported every week.

This House must meet the tide head on. I urge the Members of this House and the Seanad to agree that the gap created must be plugged tightly. I commend the Government and thank the Minister for bringing forward this legislation. I urge all to support it and to continue to save lives.

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