Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome that progress has been made on the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use. Sinn Féin has been calling for this for the past four years or more.

I am from an area of high disadvantage and have seen the devastation drugs have inflicted on my area since I was a child. I have lived in a community that has seen intergenerational addiction and trauma within families. When I say "high disadvantage", I am speaking about Government policy of the time placing thousands of families from the same socioeconomic background into the same areas without putting the necessary infrastructure and supports in place. While we were put at a disadvantage by Government policies, we were not at a disadvantage by the strength of character in our community. Everything we have in our area today, ordinary people like my parents, Deputy Gino Kenny's parents and other people in my area had to fight tooth and nail for, and fight they did. They fought for schools, something as simple as bus routes, access to local health services, community centres and basically everything else the Government failed to provide for.

Unfortunately, many of our young people ended up in addiction over the years. It began as way to escape poverty and trauma, sometimes to escape the multigenerational trauma of industrial schools, Magdalen laundries, and mother and baby homes. Drugs give people the ability to self-soothe and to give calm to an anxious inner world. They work until they stop working, and then the problems begin.

I worked for years in addiction centres across Dublin as a counsellor, key worker, outreach worker and manager. I know the work our front-line services put into helping people addicted to drugs, those people's families and our wider communities.

I welcome that we are now going to have a grown-up conversation about drugs in the form of a citizens' assembly. Every voice must be represented at this assembly. We have heard many calls for legalisation, decriminalisation, regulation and a healthcare approach when it comes to drug use. These voices must be represented.

I am not going to pre-empt what I believe the recommendations of the citizens' assembly are going to be, but I will call on the Government to start planning now for all outcomes. For example, if we are to move to a decriminalised, regulated, healthcare approach, then we must start resourcing our services now. There is no point in bringing an end to the current legal situation without putting the appropriate resources in place in our community in spite of commitments to a health-led approach.

We need to build on the crucial role of our community drugs projects, as Deputy Gould stated, in responding to the needs of individuals, families and communities. We also need to recognise the need for significant and increased investment. As public representatives, it is incumbent on us to use the right language when it comes to talking about people with addiction issues. When you hear Deputies from Government parties dehumanising people by calling them junkies, this needs to be challenged at every single opportunity. It is not right, and it is not fair to people suffering with addiction and their families. I support the Sinn Féin amendment. Having a voice of recovery is vital to this process.

Last week, I had a debate with the Minister of State on the Health (Amendment) (Dual Diagnosis: No Wrong Door) Bill 2021. The Government stated that a citizens' assembly was one way that this matter could be dealt with in the next year or so. I ask the Minister of State to guarantee that this will happen. I am not saying that the citizens' assembly will agree with what we are asking for, but the concept of dual diagnosis must be at the centre of the citizens' assembly's work.

All voices must be heard, including those of families and communities that have been ripped apart by criminality. They need to be central to this process. We also need to hear from young people. I previously stated that only people aged 18 and over can take part in the work of a citizens' assembly. We must find a way for young people to have their voices heard. That is vitally important. We need to hear from people in the context of dual diagnosis, and we also need to hear from those who are campaigning for legalisation, regularisation and decriminalisation. They all need to be part of this.

I take this opportunity to call on the Government to also establish a citizens' assembly on Irish unity. Councils across the State have supported this call for a united Ireland assembly. We must see the immediate establishment of a citizens' assembly on Irish unity in order that we can reimagine matters, make plans and include everybody in the conversation.

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