Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the recently announced citizens' assemblies on a directly elected mayor and biodiversity. However, the Government has failed to prepare for a Border poll, just like the British Tories failed to prepare for Brexit.

I would like to focus on the issue of the citizens' assembly on drugs. Deputy Gould outlined the stark statistics regarding how drugs affected another generation of young people. People in our communities are dying every day and the so-called war on drugs has failed miserably. For decades, our communities, through Concerned Parents Against Drugs, CPAD, the Coalition of Communities Against Drugs, COCAD, CityWide and professionals in the area of drug use and misuse, have said that we need a fundamental, root-and-branch change to our drug strategies.

The reason that a citizens' assembly is important is there is no clear and accepted analysis of the way forward. The delay is sadly going to kick the problem down the line for years. However, our communities, parents and young people do not have that time. I ask that the preparatory work for the citizens' assembly on drugs to be started now and that we do not delay any further. Maybe we will then finally move away from criminalising young people who use drugs and have to deal with the nightmare of drug addiction and use.

See this speech in context