Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State heard the reality when he attended the North Inner City Drugs Task Force this week, which is that an increasing range of drugs is appearing on the streets, in particular the benzodiazepines, Z drugs, zopiclone and zimovane. He heard about the massive profits involved. It is possible to make €1,000 a week, which beats a summer job packing shelves in one of the local supermarkets. The Garda is powerless to deal with the Z drugs. There is a need for a personal detox from benzodiazepines before people can access the official programme. We know about the street crime, drug paraphernalia and intimidation and the length of time people are on methadone. In 2010 a Department of Health recommendation suggested suboxone would be used as an alternative to methadone because fewer overdoses occur on it. We are also aware of the housing and homelessness problems and the dual diagnosis of people presenting with mental health issues, not to mention those in prison who are addicted but sometimes manage to mask that addiction when they are in prison but one must ask what they come out to.

I have to ask where is the role of the national drugs rehabilitation implementation committee in all of this. As people on the ground are telling me, the situation is getting worse and there is no urgency in addressing it.

See this speech in context