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

I thank the Minister for his reply. I would love it if what he has said here was amplified to communities and individuals throughout our country. The message must go out that this is the approach of the Government and the Oireachtas.

There should be no tolerance for people who are peddling drugs and passing around a line etc., whatever social strata they come from. I listened to a sergeant in the Cavan-Monaghan drugs unit speaking at a public meeting recently, and he outlined the horrors inflicted on people through the use of drugs. He did an excellent presentation. We need to get that message out very clearly. I fully appreciate that we need to support people who unfortunately become addicted through different facets of their existence and of their lives. I have helped and supported many of those people through the Cavan-Monaghan drug awareness unit as well. We need to resource those particular organisations well. I have seen people come back from addiction and recover. Thankfully, today, they are in gainful employment, looking after themselves and rearing families, in many instances. We have to ensure that we do not lose sight of that either. At the same time, we cannot lose sight of the criminal gangs and the people I mentioned earlier, who are peddling death and destruction in every community in our country.

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