Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This is one of the first debates I have had the opportunity to sit and listen to given the restrictions we have had since I was elected. I acknowledge all the contributions and particularly the commitment of the two Ministers of State, Deputies James Browne and Naughton. I welcome the publication of the strategy. I do so because many of the communities we discussed in this report are ones I represent in this House. They are proud communities. They hate the stigma that much of this brings on them but they know that within those communities lives a scourge. Deputy Howlin's warning is important because we must be cognisant of the scale of that problem.

The largest economic generator in my community is probably the drugs industry. When people in the community see it, they do not see the industry itself because it is hidden. Instead, they see the physical evidence of the people who are impacted by it. They see people who have an addiction injecting, defecating or urinating at school gates as children go in and out. They see aggressive begging at shops and open drug dealing or as one resident called it, the "supermarket". They see children being used as drug mules in exchange for a curry tray or a pair of runners. They see businesses operating in plain sight that clearly have links to that drugs industry. We have to know the scale of the problem because that is the industry that our young people are being subjected to and targeted by. It is as much a threat to the security of the State as paramilitaries, Covid-19 or Brexit and we must look at it in those terms. It is too easy to demonise the people who are impacted by the drugs industry, those with an addiction but those people who we do not see being impacted by it, particularly young people, are also a threat.

I welcome the strategy and the fact that we have already started to see implementation. I particularly welcome the antisocial behaviour forum which is really important in terms of project managing solutions. I also welcome the action on scrambler bikes, the implementation of the so-called Fagan's law to stop children from being exploited by criminals and the community safety partnerships. I welcome in particular the community safety fund which seeks to reflect the seizures that are happening in communities in terms of the funding made available to those communities.

In terms of the community safety partnerships, we need to move very quickly from the pilot phase to implementation and I will make no bones about the fact that Ballymun and Finglas will be first in the queue to avail of those partnerships. However, the HSE and Tusla must also be involved. For too long when partnerships were established by previous governments, the HSE and Tusla were absent which is why they have not been able to respond appropriately. I am very worried that the UBU, Your Space, Your Place contract, which is the responsibility of the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, is not doing enough to target disadvantage, unlike previously under the Young People's Facilities and Services Fund. Finally, on the issue of commitment, the Taoiseach sat down with me for an hour this week to review the Ballymun - A Brighter Future report and I appreciate the time he gave to that. Senior leadership is needed to tackle this in every community that is impacted by it.

See this speech in context