Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am very glad to have the opportunity to close this debate behalf of the Labour Party. I thank colleagues across the House for the strong support that has been shown today for this important motion. I commend my colleague Deputy Ó Ríordáin, who is also our justice spokesperson. Long before he was our justice spokesperson, however, he led for us on the policy of decriminalisation and on bringing people with him to ensure we see a more practical, compassionate, humane and evidence-based approach to drug policy in this country. I also commend Labour Youth, our youth wing, which has been to the fore in leading for us on this within the party. In particular, I thank Mr. Conal O'Boyle, Mr. Hugh Murphy and Mr. James Kearney, who have really led the campaign within Labour Youth and who join us in the Gallery. I commend the many front-line support workers working in drug rehabilitation and treatment, many of whom have worked with us on shaping and supporting this motion. I thank the CityWide drugs crisis campaign, Ana Liffey Drug Project, Coolmine Drug Rehab Centre and Merchants Quay Ireland. I commend all the work that has been done there. I will also mention the Ringsend and District Response to Drugs in my own constituency. I thank all of those who work so hard to deal with and address those who are enduring addiction.

This is an issue that is very close to my own heart. For many years, I practised as a barrister. I did a lot of criminal defence work and much work in the District Court. Many of my clients were themselves in addiction. Their addiction had been a pathway into criminality. I saw very close-up the immense destruction and devastation wreaked as a consequence drug addiction.

I always think of one young mother I represented in court who was in and out of prison. She was convicted time after time of theft-related offences because she was stealing to feed a habit. She was in and out of prison. The only time she looked healthy was when she had spent time in prison and was securing medical support for her addiction. When I thought of the harm caused to all the victims of the crimes committed by clients of mine and others, the enormous harm to the families of those in addiction and the huge physical and mental health impacts upon those people as a result of their addiction, it certainly made me realise the need for a change in policy.

What we have heard across the House today is a recognition by all of us as legislators, both in and out of Government, of the need for change in policy. It is very welcome that the Government is not opposing this motion. It is very welcome to hear the Minister of State's colleagues speak about the legislation on supervised injection facilities, which has been in place since 2017 and which was driven by my colleague Deputy Ó Ríordáin. It is very welcome to hear some lip service being given to a health-led policy to addiction by this Government. What we are not seeing is the drive and political will necessary to deliver that very necessary change in policy to a health-led, evidence-based approach and to a policy where we can decriminalise the user and see addiction as a health issue for which we can put in place the necessary State supports to bring people out of addiction and rehabilitate them, and treat addiction in a compassionate way as a health-related issue.

This is an issue throughout the country, as my colleagues have pointed out. I was in County Limerick recently with Ana Liffey Drug Project, which told me that this is all across the country. We are not only seeing this in urban settings but in rural settings too. It is an issue in my constituency. I recently met with communities, businesses and households in the south inner city who have been impacted very much by the devastation wreaked by criminal gangs and drug gangs. We need to move it out of this. The war on drugs has not been won. The criminal justice approach is not achieving the necessary results for communities and individuals. We need to move to a different approach. The criminal justice approach, which is a criminalisation model, has not stopped criminal gangs from terrorising communities in urban and rural areas alike. It has not stopped people using drugs because, as our motion points out, we are seeing widespread usage. It has not stopped people dying and, indeed, the figures are very stark. More than 10,000 lives have been lost in the past 25 years in this country as a result of addiction. That is a dreadful figure we simply cannot continue to tolerate.

We have moved beyond stigmatisation. We moved to a situation where we can now talk very openly about deaths due to subjects that were perhaps stigmatised in the past, such as suicide and so on. Now, however, we need to talk about how we save those lives and how we save families whose loved ones have been lost through addiction.

Criminal justice policies have not prevented deaths. What they have done, unfortunately, is create unnecessary stigmatisation, particularly of young people. We are seeing so many prosecutions, arrests and convictions for possession for personal use. As others said, this is not a good use of Garda time. This is creating unnecessary stigmatisation for young people, in particular those in disadvantaged communities. In 2020 - a pandemic year - there were nearly 15,000 arrests for possession of drugs for personal use in this country. This is not the right way nor a practical or compassionate way to approach issues around addiction, which should be dealt with as healthcare policies.

The Minister of State in his speech referred to what happened this year at the Electric Picnic festival in County Laois with the pilot model of adopting what was genuinely a health-led approach, which saw the HSE launch a landmark drug testing facility that enabled festivalgoers to forfeit their drugs anonymously for testing. We saw a huge media focus on this and on the various pitfalls that were predicted. The programme was successful by any measure, however. Dangerously potent substances were found in some of the samples submitted, including three entirely new psychoactive substances. The findings immediately led to three communications to festivalgoers advising them of risk. That experience speaks for itself. It speaks to how a genuine harm reduction model can save lives and provide a new and better approach to drug policy.

I will finish by noting that this is not a new debate. I was a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality in 2015. We produced a report that again achieved cross-party consensus on the need to move to the Portugal model, about which others have spoken, with a focus on decriminalisation of the user. Let us see the Government grab the nettle and take the initiative now. Let us hear the Minister of State name a date for the setting up of a citizens' assembly. There is huge support for it across this House. He should name the date. Before Christmas, let us hear a date being set in order that we can move towards a genuine, compassionate, evidence-based and health-led approach to drug policy in this country.

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