Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome tonight's motion from Fianna Fáil and I know Deputy Curran is passionate about the area. I appreciate that the motion has been put forward with real sincerity.

I was very much struck by a headline last month in The Irish Timesindicating that the average consumer of cocaine is a farmer or a nurse. I am from Tipperary, which is a pretty rural county with many small and medium-sized towns. As a public representative and Deputy from Tipperary, I can tell the Dáil that it is an absolutely accurate statement because cocaine is available anywhere now. The comment came from a garda and I suppose it was made to have an effect, which it had. I am not saying every nurse or farmer in Tipperary is doing cocaine but this demonstrates how far the problem has gone that drugs are so freely available. This is not just an urban problem and it is very much a rural problem now. Even when out or about in a social setting in Tipperary, one can feel the problem. We do not even have to physically see the drug being taken as we can sense it by seeing how people act when they have taken drugs. This is in small rural villages and other Deputies from Tipperary can verify what I am saying. It is happening in towns and the most rural of areas. It is a measure of how widespread is the issue.

I and other Deputies from Tipperary met the Garda Commissioner recently about the decision, which we all feel is wrong, to move the divisional headquarters from Thurles to Ennis. At the meeting, a number of us made the point that there has been a major increase in social policing across the county, whether it is right or wrong. This relates to drink-driving and related matters, which is fine. However, this has led to a negative impact on the volume of gardaí trying to root out who is pushing or delivering drugs and ensuring those drugs are so widely available in the county. I would like this balanced so we can see the impact the Garda can and should have with the proper resources in dealing with those who are pushing this drug into my village and every other village across Tipperary.

The drugs unit in Tipperary does not have the required resources. All of us in public life in the county know this. Everybody at a joint policing committee meeting knows the manpower is not there but we keep saying it. We do not have the capacity to deal with these matters. Members of the Garda will say to our faces that they know about the scale of the problem. To be honest, many of us even know who is dealing the drugs but we cannot do anything about it.

If the resources were available to An Garda Síochána, those responsible would be able to deal with it. That is one point I really want to get across in this debate. First, I want to emphasise that this is not simply an urban thing; it is very much a rural thing. Second, I wish to get across the point that the resources required in rural areas need to be targeted and specific not only because of the wider geographical area but because the impact is as devastating as anywhere else.

The next issue is the type of drugs available. It is not only cocaine. I am saying as much representing my county. Speed, ecstasy, methylenedioxymethamphetamine, and even the veterinary medicine, ketamine, are all available. What is more, we know deaths associated with drug-taking are on the rise. The statistics have been stated unilaterally here.

We all know what the problems are, so it is really a case of how we are going to deal with them. We all know about the criminal gangs and how they are funding this lucrative business as well as the contract killings.

We know that addiction is a medical problem and a mental health problem that needs expert medical intervention. In that context I welcome the health-led approach to addiction in the Government's new drugs and alcohol addiction strategy, Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery. Yet, two years on there are clearly significant gaps. I respect the bona fides of the Minister of State on this issue above all issues as well as her passion for it, but it is really a question of resources and making an impact.

My former colleague, Mr. Pat Rabbitte, led the first ministerial review into drug misuse which led in turn to the establishment of the drugs task force. Across all politics I imagine people would acknowledge how that was a positive move. Based on the motion before the House, we probably need to relook and refresh our whole attitude towards this area. That is the spirit in which many of us are here.

The impact of drugs task forces inside communities across many years has been striking in some cases more than in others. As other speakers said, it tended to depend on the people who actually got involved, the way the relevant agencies got involved and the spirit in which they got involved. In many cases the effects were highly impactful. From the outset the task forces involved community leaders who convinced people of the benefits of having services and supports on hand. In the vast majority of cases they were welcomed in their areas because someone was finally doing something about this major problem.

The drugs task forces also joined the dots in terms of economic reality. People in the poorest communities were more vulnerable to illegal drugs, especially heroin. They have now moved on to a wide range of drugs and the problem does not only affect the poorest people. The task forces not only dealt with addiction but with childcare, education, training and community employment, although often that aspect is less highlighted. The idea was to help people not only to deal with addiction, mental health issues and so on but to actually pull everything together in a holistic way and get their lives back together.

In recent years a far more centralised approach has been taken by the HSE to the funding and governance of community-led addiction services. To a degree this has made them more semi-detached from the local task forces and the links to the community. That division is a problem. Addiction services have been put into a medical model. Community-based training and job services, which I referenced earlier, dealing with the social and economic aspects of addiction have been sidelined by the HSE in favour of purely medial services. We believe strongly this is a failure to see the whole problem holistically and all the issues. It is not only about addiction. It is about peoples' lives, the components of their lives and the multitude of services needed to deal with this complex issue.

The remit of the task forces has been expanded to include alcohol. Yet, there has been no increase in funding since it was cut in 2008. We have the additional issues relating to the whole curse of alcohol addiction on top of the issues we spoke about but no additional resources. Is it any wonder it has gone into a silo that is HSE-led or medical-led without dealing with the whole problem? This means little or nothing can be done in terms of new projects or services because no more money is available.

I will sum up. First, this issue is no longer simply an urban issue; it is a rural one, as I stated clearly. Second, it is an issue in respect of which we need to restate our objectives. Third, we need to refuel the drugs task forces and reorient them to a more holistic model of dealing with all the issues in people's lives as well as addiction. Fourth, it is obvious that the whole funding model needs to be looked at again.

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