Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank People Before Profit-Solidarity and all of those who worked with them to bring forward this Bill. It is a reasonable proposition and worthy of discussion. I welcome the fact that we can have a discussion on it. Sinn Féin will not oppose this Bill. We think it should proceed to Committee Stage and we have long called for an increased emphasis on harm reduction in this area. My colleagues, Deputies Gould and Ward, have undertaken extensive work in the fields of mental health, rehabilitation and the treatment of addiction. We want to see a health-led approach to drug addiction. It serves no one, neither the individual who is caught in addiction or society itself, to treat this person as a criminal. The knock-on effects this has include restricting an individual from future employment opportunities, stigmatisation and clogging up the criminal justice system. The amount that is being discussed here is quite small at 7 g. In such a context if we are talking about a health-led approach, it is at this level that we should look at it. As a society, we need to change our approaches. It is a discussion that is happening. Delaying the Bill does not serve anyone. Sinn Féin supported the establishment of the citizen's assembly on drugs and notes its recommendations for a wider health-based approach moving away from the use of an overburdened criminal justice system. We do not want to see people criminalised and jailed for possession of very small amounts of drugs for their personal use.

We are also conscious of the fact that many communities we represent are burdened by exploitative, parasitic criminal gangs at times. That is the case in our major cities and across the country. A balance needs to be struck in this regard. We do not want to see that any legislation would be open to exploitation by criminal gangs.

However, the focus of this legislation is on the individual and not seeing them brought before the courts unnecessarily, with that having huge implications for the rest of their lives. Indeed, it spills into things such as housing applications. As Deputy Daly identified, there are provisions that need to be teased out in the legislation and I also note the point made by Deputies Daly and Gould that the legislation cannot deal with all the issues. Beyond the legislation, therefore, the shortfall in rehabilitation beds needs to be addressed seriously. The technical issues raised by Deputy Daly are worthy of attention but can be dealt with on Committee Stage and should not be delayed.

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