Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As my colleague said, what the Minister of State announced is clearly not enough. We explained to her that crack cocaine has been a game changer in our community. We are looking for help and support. As others have said, this is an intergenerational issue. We are still dealing with stuff from the late 1980s and the 1990s and now, in the 2020s, we have this latest problem. It is a major challenge.

I do not know if it will shock the Minister of State, but I know of families where grandparents, parents and their children in one household are involved in drug addiction. I do not know if it will surprise her that I am aware of people in their 70s presenting in Tallaght hospital with symptoms of drug use. That is the challenge we are facing. It is a societal issue. It can be tackled but it needs resources and supports. If we do not get those supports, as I said, we will hollow out our communities and we will have nothing left.

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