Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In recent years there has been a significant rise in cocaine consumption, with current reports from gardaí and drugs councillors stating that drugs are available in every rural village and town in Ireland. The cliché of cocaine as the drug of choice for the wealthy, young elite is long out of date. It has evolved in recent years and is now being used regularly by all classes across society. The epidemic has soared to new heights and is now being felt in every community, sports club, school and parish in rural Ireland, including every parish in my constituency. Last year one GAA star and recovering cocaine addict said that drugs are so readily available now in rural Ireland that it is "literally like getting a bag of sweets". Another said it can be ordered and obtained as quickly as a pizza delivered to your door. Families are being torn apart. Parents are losing their children. Children are losing their parents.

The epidemic in drug use is fuelling the epidemic of abuse and antisocial behaviour in our towns and villages. In County Wexford, and in all its towns, like Enniscorthy, Gorey, New Ross and Wexford, business and retail staff and customers are despairing at the level of open drug use and dealing, shoplifting, fighting and open brawls in broad daylight on the streets of our towns. People are afraid to walk the streets during the day, let alone at nighttime. Yesterday I met a person who told me they readily remember walking down the streets of Wexford with no fear at 3 a.m. after a night out. They now worry about walking down the streets of Wexford at 3 p.m. in the afternoon. Only a few days ago there was a violent dispute in broad daylight on the Wexford quay front. This follows a similar incident last month, which saw two young men attacked on the street. A short number of weeks prior to that a woman was pushed to the ground and robbed of her social welfare money as she came from the post office. People are genuinely afraid and feel strongly that little action is being taken to address the issues.

County Wexford has experienced a 9.5% increase in population since the last census in 2016. We are not seeing anything like an equivalent increase in Garda numbers to police our communities. Rather, there is a lack of resources to An Garda Síochána. A report from the Policing Authority on the issue of public order training and resources is due in June, which I welcome. However, it is time for a response from the Government on rural policing. The coastal watch programme, launched by An Garda Síochána to curb the threat of drugs being landed along the coastline, is welcome, but I have just come from a meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts at which the Department of Defence appeared. We have six naval vessels that have cost the State €500 million. Four of them sit by the quayside.

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