John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Every city, town, village and smaller centre of population is affected by the issue of drugs. They are available on the street, on river walks, in children’s playgrounds and, indeed, in a graveyard in Kilkenny. The Garda knows about this. Children are being used to provide the drugs to the client in an effort to avoid the law. The policing committees involving the councils were very relevant during the last term but now the model has changed and is not as effective as it used to be. However, we do have resources on the ground. We have family resource centres, as mentioned by Deputy Gould. There are centres in Urlingford and Callan, County Kilkenny, and at the Fr. McGrath centre and Newpark Close in Kilkenny city. They do an amazing amount of work. They engage with the community at the level where they can make a difference to individuals and families. We need to support each and every one of the centres and maybe establish more. Owing to the increase in the availability of drugs and their use, we should explore this avenue. The required professionalism and community engagement exist at family resource centre level, and it is at this level that we need to make the difference.

Perhaps the law needs to be changed so we can intervene at an early stage in the case of children not in their teenage years but younger who are being used to facilitate the transaction of the sale of drugs. Using them is reprehensible but it is going on.

We have to intervene at various other levels in society to get those who are seen as leaders within their own communities or those who are obviously known to members of their own communities to stand out and give the example that is necessary.

I applaud the work being done by the GAA and every single club throughout the country. I firmly believe that the GAA, as an organisation, is the last man standing in the context of community development and the development of the characters, personalities and skills of young people. The more we invest in those clubs, the greater positive result there is for a community.

There is no doubt that the community gardaí, when they were active and out in the community, had a very positive effect too. They brought together the law and the enforcement and they engaged with the families and the children. Where you get a good community police officer, you will get a community that is actively engaged and supportive of the rule of law and that will see the different pathways out of the poverty they exist in, perhaps, but certainly a pathway out of the use of drugs or the use of drink.

I encourage the Minister to look at the structure in each of the Garda stations throughout the country to ensure that community gardaí are placed to the fore wherever they are located; throughout a city, a town, a village or indeed, an area that is in particular difficulty. The sooner we do that and invest in it, the sooner we will make an impact.

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