Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State said that such clauses are not contained within other legislation. I know of several pieces of legislation that have a clause where a report goes to a committee of the House or the Dáil. For example, any of the Ombudsman Acts facilitate an ombudsman making a report to the Dáil. It is laid before the House. In some instances they are to report to relevant committees. I would not go down the road of a sunset clause because I do not believe that this should be repealed. It should be reviewed by the Committee on Health. It can be done without it being in the legislation. It would be nice if it was contained within the legislation because that is a guarantee that it will happen, whether in the next Dáil or the one after it. At least then they are discussing the drugs issue and whether this pilot is successful or not.

This is a pilot scheme and I welcome it and have no problem with it at all. However, if the pilot goes on for three or four years, when will it be properly reviewed to see whether it will go on beyond the pilot? Sometimes the pilot just continues and it becomes a established mainstream, in drug taskforce language. If it is mainstream is another one piloted somewhere else?

The Minister of State said the international evidence suggests that people do not come from too far away. Dublin and Cork are very small cities and people can travel from one side of the city to the other. That has consequences, and they are good consequences if people's health is improved, but I know it has other consequences in some of the services.

There were suggestions that a service in our own locality was being closed and there was a fear that some of those who would be put into a new facility were from different elements of a feuding gang. Sometimes there are unforeseen consequences and in that context, it is useful to review legislation. Whether such a review would be on a once-off basis or ongoing is not something about which I am too concerned but there should be some review at least.

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