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

We have all had multiple conversations on the necessity for multi-agency cross-departmental pieces of work that must be done to deal with the issue we have, which is caused by drug gangs and organised crime and the issues they cause in communities, particularly in working class communities. Obviously, the issue blew up in Drogheda, in particular. In fairness, a significant amount has been done and a significant number of promises have been made at this stage. We all accept that there must be early interventions at a community level and particularly at a family level, which is lacking across the board. I accept that some work is being done on increasing funding in relation to diversion projects. However, I am going to bring up again the issue of the family addiction support network, which deals directly with drug debt intimidation and provides supports for families who find themselves in such situations and who are dealing with addiction. There are difficulties at this point in time in relation to funding. We are aware of the moves made by the HSE and others towards groups operating at a State level. They talk about governance, but we really need to look at the ground-up operation.

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