Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for the additional points she has made, which I will relay to the Minister of State, Deputy Ó Ríordáin. As the Deputy herself said, this is an issue that cuts across several Departments, including Health and Justice and Equality. Unfortunately, the Minister for Health, Deputy Varadkar, could not be here today either. The Government is conscious that a co-ordinated effort is required and there will be an attempt during the drafting of the legislation due in 2016 to involve all of the relevant agencies to ensure that we put the best possible legislation in place. The new national drugs strategy, on which the Minister of State, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, will lead, is important, and it will adapt to the changes in society over the last four or five years. The strategy will ensure that we have the necessary legislation in place and the resources required to target the new phenomenon of abuse of Z-drugs. As Deputy O'Sullivan has pointed out, this will change again in the coming years, so we need to have a drugs strategy that is capable of adapting to current crises in terms of the demand for certain drugs. I will relay all of the Deputy's concerns to the Minister of State at the earliest opportunity.

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