John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That answer is much less heartening than the Taoiseach's response when I raised the same issue on the Order of Business. It is not enough. That is the very simple message I ask the Minister of State to bring back to the Minister. She might ask him, and his constituency colleague, why Bray Local Drug and Alcohol Task Force gets significantly more funding than Tallaght Drug and Alcohol Task Force. Riddle me that one please.

The four of us meet the most senior gardaí - in fairness, they have been very accessible - and they have told us they have no handle on crack cocaine. That is probably the scariest piece of all. I will read a brief excerpt from the report as it summarises what people have said: "Crack cocaine users are very visible in [our] community with increased begging at shops and public areas in many parts of Tallaght". We all know this is not exaggerated and we have raised it with An Garda. The report further states:

It has a very detrimental impact on local communities in terms of public order, intimidation, dealing, violence, mental and physical health, child welfare, deprivation, neglect and forced prostitution. The location of a significant number of ‘crack houses’ are known to the local community. The public health risks within such houses are profound and ... may have young children living in them which increases exposure at an early age.

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for her forbearance and I will do the same for her when I am in the chair.

See this speech in context