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

I agree. To reduce supply, we need to ensure we are working on an international basis and stopping the large shipments. What is clear is that the drugs seized are the tip of the iceberg, but obviously the more work the Garda can do, the more we will be seen as a country into which it is not easy to bring this level of drugs.

There is work that can be done on a lower level by An Garda Síochána. I am referring to the work across the Criminal Assets Bureau. I will be tabling amendments to make it easier for gardaí to seize. Looking at the lower level, we have a situation now where citizens can actively engage with the Criminal Assets Bureau. Representatives in local Garda Stations are also actively working on the ground to spot the signs of more low-level activity by a dealer who is involved in the community. Linked very closely to that is the involvement of young people in drug running, debt and intimidation. That is why the legislation to criminalise the grooming of children, which was passed only recently, is so important. To that date, we had not actually recognised the impact it was having on children, as well as the crimes that had been committed.

It is important when we speak about different ways in which we can do things that we mention the Greentown project, which looks at young people, their families, the situations they are in and how we can break the links to get young people out of those situations so that the cycle is broken. That is working really well, and we have extended it because of that, but we want to see more of those types of programmes.

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