Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleague, Deputy John Curran, for bringing this motion and I acknowledge the good work he has done previously on this. It has to be acknowledged that even though rural Ireland is in decline, with the local pubs closing down, we see a phenomenal increase in the use of hard drugs. That is a fact. For a nominal amount of €20 a person can go out and get a high.

I put it to the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, that I was told lately about one of the drink brands that recently conducted a re-evaluation of its market share against other brands. It found that one of the biggest competitors to drink brands is cocaine usage in nightclubs. This has to be a warning for us.

I served as a member of a local drugs task force. I commend and acknowledge the good work they do but we need to give them more funding. Deputy Rabbitte made a good point when referring to the consultation with the former Ministers of State that we need to devolve the power down to the regional task forces and to get their views.

I put it to the Minister of State also that prevention is the big issue that needs to be brought home to people, and especially in our schools. We thought it good enough to bring forward legislation on sex education for fifth and sixth class students. We need to educate them also on prevention and the illegal use of drugs.

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