Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the proposed Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use. It is long overdue. I wish those who will be members of the assembly the very best in their deliberations. In the first instance, however, we are the citizens' assembly. The people of this State elected us to legislate on these issues. While the input of the assembly will be most welcome, this cannot be a case of taking its feedback and then allowing it to gather dust on a shelf. The time for action on drugs is now.

The approaches that have been taken over previous generations have failed utterly. The so-called war on drugs has been an absolute disaster. Columbia's President, Gustavo Petro, has stated recently the war on drugs has killed more than a million people in Latin America without denting the power of drug traffickers or the supply of drugs into Europe and the USA. The old approach of criminalising users has failed so many drug users, their families and many of our communities. I have been a member of the local drug and alcohol forum in Limerick for more than 12 years and have seen first-hand the devastation addiction can have not just on the user but on their families and wider community. Dependence on illicit drug use can rip families apart. I have spoken to mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers who have put themselves in debt to try to pay their child or grandchild's dealer. I have seen others make the difficult decision to report their own children to An Garda Síochána. It is my hope that the citizens' assembly will be able to consider the impact of illicit drug use on the lives of the family members of those who have been consumed by addiction and how we as a State can better support them.

Unfortunately, these types of scenarios have become more prevalent in Limerick over the past three years. The scourge of heroin remains, but it has been added to by the introduction of cheaper and highly addictive crack cocaine. It has taken hold of my beautiful city of Limerick and it is devastating. It often serves not only as a substitute for heroin but also as a compliment to it. In 2020, I raised my concerns about the surge in the availability of crack cocaine in Limerick in this Chamber. I outlined my concern about the fact that the use of this addictive form of cocaine would increase unless action was taken. Regrettably, I have been proved right. Despite the efforts of the Garda and drug support organisations, use of crack cocaine has become widespread across Limerick. Indeed, the drugs supermarket, which I have referred to in this Chamber on a number of occasions, continues to operate on a 24-7 basis. It is from there that so much of the crack cocaine in my city is being sold. There must be a greater police focus on the operations of such shops and less of a focus on those people unfortunate enough to become dependent on this substance.

My party and I see harm reduction and prevention as our guiding lights in our approach to the issue of drug misuse. In that context, I welcome the holistic approach due to be taken in Limerick very soon in response to those who are using crack cocaine. The Garda has committed to an approach that will see its members, with the consent of users, refer users to the Ana Liffey Drug Project for support. The law engagement and assisted recovery approach has been in place in Dublin since 2014 and I hope its adoption in Limerick, specifically in relation to crack cocaine, will free up resources to tackle not the unfortunate users but the higher-end peddlers who profit from this misery. I acknowledge the work of organisations in Limerick such as Ana Liffey, which has been in the mid-west for the last ten years, and the Northstar Family Support Project that helps families. They do tremendous, non-judgmental work with both users and their families. Their workers are tremendous people who do so much good daily.

I hope the forthcoming assembly looks at models across the world with an eye to seeing whether they have been successful and to whether parts or all of those alternative approaches could be implemented in Ireland. The Portuguese model, which has been in place for ten years, is where I would start looking. While it has not been a panacea and is not perfect, it has led to a reduction in deaths, a massive reduction in people being imprisoned for drug addictions and has reduced HIV, hepatitis and other infections. We need to look at what works across the world and take the best parts. What we cannot do is sit in this Chamber and subcontract this out to the citizens' assembly. When the assembly comes back with what I hope will be a good report, we must deal with it as fast as we can and address this issue, because it is causing huge devastation.

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