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

This is not an issue that we can deal with alone and that is why An Garda Síochána has significant engagement and very strong links with Interpol and Europol. We have worked very closely with the Maritime Analysis and Operation Centre - Narcotics, based in Lisbon. We have deployed Garda liaison officers to specific countries which we know are problematic where drugs are coming from or which are used as shipping bases for drugs that are then distributed to other areas. Within An Garda Síochána, every division has an inspector tasked specifically with responding to the issue of drug-related intimidation, trying to support those communities that are now impacted.

We also need to look at it from a different approach. While huge investment is going into An Garda Síochána to make sure that it can put in place these operations, such as Operation Tara, supporting the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, which has seized €330 million worth of drugs since 2019 alone, we also need to look at the human side of it, the addiction side of it, and how we can approach it from a health-led perspective. That work is under way at the moment, supported by the Garda. We need to work very closely with the Garda if we are to have an alternative pathway, rather than just the criminal justice process, for those with severe and significant addiction problems.

See this speech in context