John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. At the outset, I will declare my interest. I am a practising pharmacist and have been in a position to legally dispense these products over the past number of years. They have a significant role to play when prescribed and dispensed in the correct manner. Unfortunately, over the past number of years, they have been significantly abused. Their cost is very attractive to people as they can be acquired quite cheaply. A drugs worker in Kerry recently informed me that a standard Friday night's entertainment for a teenager who wants to partake of them would be four or five Zopiclone tablets and a couple of cans of beer. This is a sad reflection on our society.

I agree with Deputy Curran and I welcome this Bill because it is one step of many that are needed in tackling a huge problem. I do not agree with Deputy Boyd Barrett that we will never win the battle because we must continue to fight, legislate and enforce. We will never solve any problem 100% but we cannot give up and accept defeat. We must continually fight and this is what I will do as long as I have breath in my body.

While welcoming the Bill, which will help in respect of the abuse of Benzodiazepines and other drugs, the issue goes back to resources. Speaker after speaker has made the same point, namely, that unless we resource the communities to fight the issues, we are going nowhere. I will throw out a few suggestions for the Minister of State. We must start educating at a primary school level. We must make children in fifth and sixth class aware of what is out there once they enter secondary school because once they enter secondary school, they come into contact with 15, 16 and 17-year-olds who have already partaken of drugs and they have no clue what they are getting themselves into. Somebody experiments at a young age and before we know it, they are caught in a vicious circle. This is something we need to look at very seriously. We need to educate our young people at the appropriate time.

The second thing I would like to see is our gardaí reresourced to the level that is needed. I have figures in front of me stating that there has been something like a 28% cut. This was in the time when we had to go through the very difficult cutbacks during the recession in which we found ourselves. We are out of that now and must resource and reflect the position we are in and give gardaí the resources they need to tackle this problem.

The drugs task forces set up in the past were extremely beneficial and did wonderful work. Again, their budgets have been cut to shreds and they need to be reinstated. I will give the Minister of State an example. Kerry has its problems, although they are not as significant as those in larger cities. However, it still has its problems. There are three people in the entire county of Kerry working for the drugs task force as full-time officers to help and counsel people, give them assistance and refer them. There is one in north Kerry, one in Tralee, which has a population of 30,000 people, and one in south Kerry. I know those three individuals and they do wonderful work but they could do with at least three more. I ask the Minister of State to look at the funding for the southern regional drugs task force to allow for this. An extra three people would make a huge difference and go a long way towards counselling and helping those young people who need their assistance.

Web security is another issue with which we need to deal. The ability to deal in drugs online is frightening. As a practising pharmacist, it is even more worrying. People can go online and get more or less what they want. People do not understand the dangers in getting online prescription drugs because there are no controls over them. They have no idea where they come from or what is in them. This issue needs full-time attention.

The drug market evolves and changes. The problem we are talking about today will have moved on in 12 months' time and it will be a different one so it is a constant battle that needs constant resourcing and monitoring. We need to work on it, allow ourselves to move with the times and not react. The problem around Benzodiazepines goes back ten or 15 years and we are dealing with it now. We need to be far more proactive in dealing with the issues.

I reiterate the points made by Deputy Curran. The deaths per annum as a result of this far exceed other areas that get far more attention and far more funding. We need to collectively ensure this area is resourced properly so that we can deal with the challenges facing us. We should not give up. I know the area represented by the Minister of State and how passionate she is about this issue. I look forward to working with her to tackle this growing problem so that at least we can control it and, hopefully, improve on it in time.

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