Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald spoke of a state of fear in her community following a series of horrific murders that were drug-related. My community has also seen many murders over the years. Many people do not like me talking about what they say are negative issues such as crime, as they feel it reflects badly on their lives and their area. The Acting Chairman is probably aware of this. Recently, I highlighted the fact that not only parents but also grandfathers and grandmothers were being forced to pay thousands of euro to clear the alleged drug debts of their children or grandchildren. I was on the first anti-drugs march in this city in the 1980s. It was not just about stopping the open dealing, which was having an impact on many working-class communities; it was also about highlighting the lack of services for those who wanted to get help and support for their addiction. Thankfully, rehabilitation and supports have now become more available.

I have been on the local drugs task force almost since it was established. I supported the establishment of local drug rehabilitation services and I have argued against bigots and fools who tried to block them in the belief that there was no drug problem in their areas or that the establishment of supports would somehow encourage more drug addicts and dealers into their areas. Addiction services have vastly improved, but funding and supports were gutted in successive budgets at a time when demand for them was at an all-time high.

At the moment in my community, open drug-dealing is going on. The successful drugs unit in Tallaght has seen huge reductions in drug dealing, supposedly because all gardaí are now involved in tackling the issue. Many estates in my constituency have open drug dealing, sometimes involving children who act as runners. Some vulnerable children have been made to store or sell drugs and some are involved in taking drugs. I dealt with one case in which a pipe bomb was left at a house of a 15 year old, supposedly because he had a fight with another 15 year old drug runner. People should not have to live in a neighbourhood where they are frightened, terrified to leave their own homes or unable to ask children to move away from their homes or gardens, but that is the reality in some areas of this city and some areas of my constituency.

Drug dealers, many of whom have never worked a day in their lives, drive around in flash cars and buy up shops and businesses, yet the Criminal Assets Bureau does not seem even remotely interested. Perhaps it is, but a Deputy or someone active in the community would probably be the last person to be updated on matters such as this. There are dealers who are operating for decades and you never hear of them being stopped, never mind lifted or charged. There is open drug dealing that residents have to walk by and live beside day after day, with their children growing up while witnessing this as somehow normal. Some crimes such as burglaries are also linked to the drug problem, which the Minister also mentioned. Should people have to live in an environment in which they are afraid to leave their own homes after dark or must stay mute while drug dealers drive about?

My constituency is not unusual, but people ask me what the Minister is doing or proposing to do differently to stop this. Maybe we need a citizens' charter, a commitment that no family will have to live in fear, intimidated from speaking out or reclaiming their community. Perhaps that is something that we as elected representatives could start with. We have a Garda station that is not fit for purpose. There were plans drawn up about 20 years ago and those plans are still sitting on someone's desk, so the gardaí are spread over different parts, with some of them in a hotel across the road. It is not suitable for people who come to the Garda station and try to talk about the circumstances of the crimes they suffered.

We have a lot to do and that is what the debate is about. Let us start looking at things differently. Let us start pulling together and coming up with new ideas and plans. Maybe as elected representatives in Dublin South West we should come together and come up with some solution to these problems.

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