Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will start by mentioning to the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, that a suggestion I have been making for the last number of months seems to be gathering pace on the Opposition benches, which is welcome. That suggestion is for the Department of Justice and Equality and the Department of Health to begin an assessment of the Portuguese model which was the subject of a report of the committee upon which I served during the previous Dáil. I believe it was the 35th report of the Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality, chaired by Deputy David Stanton, and dealt with the Portuguese model. It was about harm reduction and a rehabilitative approach to possession of small amounts of illegal drugs.

It was an eye-opening experience for me. I had been very much against any sort of relaxation in the approach to drug policy. I would have gone in quite the opposite direction. I would have made it even firmer. However, the truth is in the results which that jurisdiction has experienced as a result of the removal of the criminal penalty for first-time offenders for possession of small quantities of drugs that are classified in a very prescriptive manner. Those individuals are diverted away from the criminal justice system and put into health, which is where they should be because it is an addiction. Targeting the end user or the small-time drug user is not really going to solve the problem. What is important is targeting the guys who are bringing it into the jurisdiction or selling it within the jurisdiction.

Notwithstanding that suggestion, which I know is one the Minister of State agrees with, I recognise that in the intervening period, Bills such as the Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2016 must be introduced. I support that initiative. We know of the absence of legislation with regard to the classification of certain drugs which has led to members of An Garda Síochána apprehending individuals with, in certain cases, large quantities of such substances only to have to release them. Clearly, if we are providing An Garda Síochána and others with the tools to reduce the consumption of either illegal or illicit substances, that is a good thing. Therefore, this legislation has my full support, with the caveat that we begin the process as soon as we possibly can to look into the Portuguese example.

I believe there are benefits that will outweigh the current investment of funds in the courts system, jails, the mobilisation of An Garda Síochána, and even education programmes. If we divert more funding into the health side of things, we reduce the amount of time that is spent in the courts and the amount of time and money invested in the prison service in transporting prisoners to and from hearings and all the rest of it. There are benefits, therefore, in examining the Portuguese model. I do not expect, for instance, that we could simply pick it up and bring it over here, as it were, because that would not work.

That would be very welcome and it would free up resources in other Departments for us to tackle the people who are bringing in the illegal substances that legislation like this, and its precursor from the 1970s, were designed to tackle, albeit unsuccessfully.

While I rarely agree with Deputy Boyd Barrett, he is always an entertaining and articulate Member of Dáil Éireann when it comes to his contributions. He was absolutely right about prohibition in the United States and other such things. The war on drugs is a complete waste of time and resources because we are never going to win it. Whether it is those in the well-to-do suburbs of this city and other cities who are snorting cocaine as if it was the year 2000, or others - of course, I jest - the people spending most on drugs in this country are not those on the streets with needles; they are those in the leafy suburbs with a premium product. Those are the people we need to target, because the less lucrative the drugs trade becomes, the less likely it is that individual dealers will make a profit, which means they will hopefully move into other areas.

I will speak on the Bill. The legislation will ensure that prescription medicines that do not currently come under the scope of the misuse of drugs legislation are included under it. Such drugs will include benzodiazepine, phenazepam - I should have tried to pronounce this before I got up to speak - and other psychoactive substances known as Z-drugs. In line with both our EU and UN obligations, we must ensure that new psychoactive substances are controlled.

I would like to draw attention to a number of the substances which will be controlled under this legislation. Zopiclone, for instance, has been a factor in a number of deaths in recent years. It was involved in six poisoning deaths in 2007, but this increased to 51 by 2013. According to records from An Garda Síochána, 165 zopiclone seizures were reported in 2014. Another example is MT-45, which was found by an EU risk assessment in 2014 to have been associated with 28 deaths, while MDMB-CHMICA was reported to have been associated with 71 serious adverse events, including 29 deaths, across eight member states.

A piece of legislation that prevents one death is worthy of this House. Our EU counterparts, along with the HSE and the Department of Justice and Equality, have been able to assess this and provide the figures we were given earlier when the Minister introduced the Bill. Other examples were also cited during the course of this debate which warrant this legislation. Given the dangers associated with many of these drugs which will, as a result of this Bill, be brought under the misuse of drugs legislation, we must act with a particular focus on disrupting the activities of gangs dealing in drugs, ensuring they can no longer sow the seeds of discord on our streets and in our local communities. We must continue to support An Garda Síochána in doing this by providing them not only with the tools but also with the legislation to back up their activities.

I am pleased that the programme for Government is committed to delivering a health-led approach to tackling drug use. Although it is a single line in that programme, I know the basis upon which that line was included. As I mentioned earlier, it is the Portuguese model. While a criminal justice approach is necessary to tackle the activities of gangs and dealers who are ensuring the proliferation of drugs on our streets, it does not benefit individuals who are struggling with an addiction. As a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality during the last Dáil term - and I am pleased to have been reappointed in the current Dáil - I was involved in the analysis carried out by the committee of what we would deem to be the most effective manner of controlling drug use and limiting the societal damage that drugs cause in our communities. In Portugal, the levels of drug use 15 or 16 years ago were defined as serious. However, there has been a significant reduction since then, making Portugal a prime example of international best practice in tackling drugs in our communities. One of the main reasons for the reduction is the transition by Portuguese authorities from treating drug addiction as a criminal justice matter to treating it as a health issue.

We have a responsibility to examine how this approach may benefit our health service, assist those facing addiction and allow for the betterment of society for all our citizens. I understand that in the autumn a further misuse of drugs Bill will be brought before us in order to provide for the establishment of supervised injecting facilities for those who have chronic drug addictions. That was one small component of the committee's report. Unfortunately, it became the main focus rather than the substantive issue, which was the move from criminalisation and incarceration of drug users to health treatment. This, however, became the main focus in the six months before the general election, which was regrettable because it was not the main thrust of the Bill. There will be many benefits from the establishment of these facilities, not just in terms of providing those with chronic addictions with a safe, clean environment but also from the perspective of the health system, and I look forward to discussing that matter further later this year.

I will not go into the specific details of what I saw last night when I was getting the train home at about 8 o'clock. Other examples of needles littering our streets in certain parts of the city centre are already on the record of the Dáil. The DART slowed down just as we were approaching Abbey Street. I looked down and there were four middle-aged people, in their 40s, down a laneway with boxes and litter all around them. They were shooting up. This was around 8 o'clock in the evening and it was still bright outside. It was about four metres from a busy footpath on Abbey Street, not that far from the old Irish Life building. That is a main thoroughfare in Dublin city centre. I am sure that if Members of the House were to go down a few laneways in Dublin 1 or Dublin 2 they would find examples of drug use on our streets. Unfortunately, it is far more chronic in certain other areas. That is why I believe the measures the Government is to introduce in the autumn are worthwhile. We have had deaths as a result of intravenous drug use on our streets, as well as multiple such deaths off our streets. When persons are found in such a way in the city centre with over a million people living around them, society is worse off in terms of protecting citizens who really need our attention and assistance.

In tackling drug use on our streets, we must implement a comprehensive and integrated approach, which will support those facing personal addictions, showing them compassion and providing them with assistance rather than treating them as criminals. Of course, this must be complemented with a justice-focused approach to tackling gangs and drug dealers and preventing them from causing further proliferation of the misuse of drugs in our communities. I hope the Government will continue to work to achieve this and to improve society for all of us. I also hope the Government will listen to the recommendations made by the justice committee of the Thirty-first Dáil, particularly in regard to the potential benefits of implementing the Portuguese system in this State.

I compliment the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, who I know is a politician of great conviction and ability. Her experience in this field made her the automatic choice for the junior ministry in the Department of Justice and Equality. I wish her all the very best.

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