Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her response and for her comments on the courts. The gardaí in Limerick are very frustrated because they are arresting people on clear evidence and bringing them to court but there is no follow-up on that and they are back on the streets, often hours later, selling their drugs in the same place where they were arrested.

The Minister will be aware that former Ministers of State who oversaw the national drugs strategy have warned that the delivery of the national drugs strategy plan is in danger of collapse as powers are being centralised under the HSE. I know that is not the Minister's remit but I want to put it on the record. The warning must be adhered to and we must ensure that task forces are once again made responsible for drafting and implementing local strategies to combat the drugs crisis locally.

I am contacted almost daily by constituents of mine who have concerns regarding drug use. They often feel very little is being done to address their concerns. From my own work in local areas I have spoken to local people, community leaders and workers who have told me how bad it has got, and many of them say they have never seen it as bad, and that is saying a lot. Drug dealing, unfortunately, is rife in areas of Limerick. I have raised this issue in many Dáil debates. I will do so again at the joint policing committee, JPC, in Limerick, and I will raise it in whatever forum I can do so.

We need a specific task force type of set-up in the area that can be modelled on what has been achieved in areas of Dublin. As I said earlier, I wrote to the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, as the Minister of State with responsibility for tackling the drugs issue. He needs to visit Limerick to get a fuller sense of the desperate situation on the ground in some of our estates. I ask him specifically to come to Limerick with me to see the situation for himself. However, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, is the Minister for Justice and I ask her, please, not to ignore the clear evidence I am presenting as, unfortunately, people did in the mid-2000s when Limerick needed massive Government intervention but people did not listen. I am pleading with the Minister because we are on the cusp of going back to where we were at that time. That intervention ultimately led to the Limerick regeneration programme. We do not want to return to those days. As I said, I am happy to meet the Minister later to discuss the issue in private. The residents need some assurance that they will not be abandoned.

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