Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I fully agree with the Minister of State and I very much welcome the introduction of the armed support unit in Cavan in 2020. It was a measure that I and other public representatives in the Cavan-Monaghan area had called for. The unit is doing extremely good work.

As I said, I fully appreciate it is not just criminal sanction and enforcement measures that will rid our society of the drugs problem. Perhaps this is outside the scope of the Department work but the regional drugs task forces and the drug awareness units in different counties are doing exceptionally good work. The Cavan-Monaghan drug awareness group does exceptional work in helping young people to get their lives back together again through a process of education and training. That type of work must also be given greater resources. The Department, the Department of Health and other statutory agencies must give greater impetus and more resources to the work of those groups at local level. They are dealing with the victims of the drug pushers and peddlers. I have seen at first hand the good work and good results for individuals that come about through small Government investment.

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