Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is hard to respond in a minute. It is fair to say that there are many reasons people might feel safe or unsafe in their communities. It might be that a person is a victim of domestic abuse and is simply not safe in his or her own home. It might be that an elderly person does not feel safe due to antisocial behaviour. Another reason might be the impact of criminal organisations and organised crime groups, many of which are connected to drug dealing. The impact that has on communities is completely devastating and there are a number of ways in which we can respond. We need to ensure we have a physical presence, together with specialist teams in communities that are able to respond and support communities on the ground, to deal with taking major criminals out of the work they are doing. We need to ensure we are able to seize the significant amount of drugs coming into our communities. The topic the Deputy has mentioned is up for discussion at the moment. The citizens' assembly is concluding its work of looking at possible other ways we can respond to the issue of drug use or misuse and addiction, in particular. There are many ways in which we can support communities in making people feel safe. It is about not focusing on one particular approach. The work of CAB in taking away the ill-gotten gains we are talking about and reinvesting them into communities is completely vital. That is why in this year's budget we allocated additional specific funding to CAB to support it in the work it does in keeping communities safe.

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