Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Paul Murphy raised a health-led approach to drug addiction, which I do support. I have not examined Deputy Gino Kenny's Bill in detail, but the relevant Minister will, and the Minister will then come back to the Government in respect of a recommendation on it. The broader point is that from a healthcare perspective, treatment and treating addiction is a core issue for those who are addicted to drugs more generally. We must acknowledge that drugs do cause harm. We cannot resile from that either. We must examine the provisions of the Bill and what they are designed to do. More broadly speaking, we favour a healthcare-led approach. I hope we can get the citizens' assembly on drugs established early in the new year, following completion of the one on biodiversity, which has sought a couple of weeks' extension. The Citizens' Assembly on a Directly Elected Mayor for Dublin is more or less completed. We are in a good position to proceed with the citizens' assemblies on drugs and education early in 2023.

Deputy Barry raised the public inquiry in respect of nursing homes. Again, at this stage I would not be minded towards a statutory public inquiry, but I know the Minister for Health has established a public health reform expert advisory group on the lessons that can be learned, an evaluation of how we performed in the pandemic, incorporating the lessons learned into a continued response to Covid but also potentially future pandemics and general preparedness in terms of the public health front. We do need a wider evaluation from the country's perspective in terms of how we manage Covid-19, covering all aspects of it, because that again would enable us to gain from the experiences of the Covid period.

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