Declan Breathnach (Louth, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend the motion. The drugs situation in this country is simply out of control. A total of 195 kg of cocaine and heroin were seized in 2018, compared with 27 kg in 2017. That speaks volumes. These figures represent only the seizures rather than what is actually being used. I attended a joint policing committee in Drogheda yesterday. I commend An Garda Síochána on the intensification of efforts in that area to deal with the situation. As the sale and supply of drugs has risen by 220%, a large number of people are appearing before the courts. I wish to mention comments by Chief Superintendent Christy Mangan who, earlier this year, said that, unless action is taken, we are at risk of losing a generation of youth. In that regard, I commend the work of local gardaí and the support given to them by the various national specialist units, including the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau.

In a different debate earlier tonight, the Minister made reference to a seizure of cannabis worth €3.2 million in Ballymascanlon, Dundalk. There was also a murder last night. Members of the Garda are working tirelessly but the reality is that Garda drug units have had their resources stripped. In the period from 2011 to 2018, the number of gardaí working in drugs units in County Louth was halved. In this same period, there was a massive surge in drug use and drug offences. We need to get to grips with that or we will lose the generation to which the chief superintendent referred. I commend the various organisations working in the region, including the Family Addiction Support Network, and I ask that they be given greater support.

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