Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It will come as no surprise to anyone that the Labour Party welcomes and supports the motion on the issue of drug addiction. I congratulate Deputy Joan Collins and her Independents 4 Change colleagues on the tabling of this worthy motion which at this juncture is timely. When the former leader of the Labour Party, Pat Rabbitte, was a Minister of State in the late 1990s, he commissioned the ministerial task force on measures to reduce the demand for drugs. He chaired the task force which published a report that became known locally as the Rabbitte report. It led to the establishment of the local task forces. The Government of the day provided funding to build a network of drug related support services for individuals and communities that now exist within the drugs task force structure.

I want to note a few aspects of the current situation. We all know that drugs represent a significant threat to people, especially young people, and society at large. The new national policy, Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery, has made a few valuable changes. It has identified that compassion and care are central aspects of a health-led approach to the issue of addiction. It is appropriate that such an approach, rather than a heavy-handed criminal justice approach, be taken to people who are addicted to drugs. I welcome the call made in the motion for decriminalisation. Approximately 20 years ago, former Deputy Emmet Stagg was the first to make such a call, in which I joined him at the time.

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