Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I reiterate the HRB figures. A total of 786 people died from drug related deaths in 2017. Those are the ones that are registered and that we know about. It is essential for the Government to strengthen the legislation on the availability of drugs at concerts and large gatherings. Promoters are making considerable money on these concerts and it is time for them to know there are consequences and to accept responsibility for those consequences.

The Tánaiste mentioned those of us living outside Dublin. Senior gardaí are saying we risk losing an entire generation unless we get to grips with the drugs problem. The slogans are all very welcome, but we need action on the ground, including extra gardaí in the drugs units. Mayo, one of the biggest counties in the country, has only five gardaí in the drugs unit. More resources need to be put in there. The Government is diminishing the incredibly important work of our regional drugs and alcohol task forces. They have not been given sufficient budgets. The proposal on the table is that they be recentralised, meaning that their reach into communities will be weakened. We never needed them more in communities than we do now. They need to be properly resourced and given the powers to do what the Tánaiste mentioned: building awareness and giving warnings in communities.

It is time for the Government to get serious about drugs. It is time for the Government to take it on and give it the attention it needs, and not lose a generation.

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