Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister's response. The scoping exercise is absolutely necessary. She spoke about how this problem in Drogheda has seeped into other areas, including County Meath. Criminality is interconnected and any scoping exercise must at least look at the entire county and beyond, particularly where there are major connections to organised crime between Dundalk and Drogheda. We are dealing with a very dangerous quotient of criminals. I welcome the Minister's mention of drug debt intimidation. I accept that the national drug strategy does not fall under her remit but I have had this conversation with the Minister previously. We need somebody at the Cabinet who has full responsibility for dealing with the entire drugs problem, which encompasses health, justice, education and children. We need this to happen as quickly as possible.

We also need to ensure we have all of the wraparound services. Gardaí would be the first to tell us we do not have, even through NGOs or the State itself, the additional services required. They end up chasing their tails.

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