Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

I am delighted to inform the House on recent developments and achievements on drug policy. The Government will not oppose the motion. It is not helpful to get into a political dispute about drugs policy. It is important not to argue over something that affects the lives of so many. As new Minister of State, I assure Members that I am very mindful that we are talking about families and people's lives. It is my absolute aim to make sure I work with the Department and other Members to work together on this. The previous Government set up the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use, and the Joint Committee on Drugs Use has been re-established in this term. I have engaged with the Seanad and next week I will meet with the joint committee, and I am looking forward to that. I intend to continue to work with all stakeholders to develop the next drugs strategy. It is very important for me that all of us work together to achieve this. This is not just a Dublin issue; this is a countrywide issue. I have seen it myself since becoming a Minister of State.

I would like to reaffirm the Government’s commitment to a health-led approach to drug use. People experiencing problematic drugs should be met with compassion, dignity, and care. I am very mindful of that. The health-led approach to drug use is set out in the national drugs strategy and the Government priority is to develop a successor strategy to cover the period 2026 to 2029. The work on a successor strategy will advance and I have established a time-bound, independently chaired steering group to provide oversight, guidance and expert advice in the drafting of the strategy. I have asked the group to complete their work and present a draft strategy for consideration by December 2025. That is my aim. We can see how important this is. This is what I have to do. As Deputy Kelly said, "be brave". I need to be brave now. I need to have the first draft of this strategy by December. That is what I want as Minister of State.

The steering group is a technical group brought together to distil the citizens' assembly recommendations, independent evaluation and stakeholder consultations into a comprehensive successor national drugs strategy. The strategy will guide the development and delivery of a health-led approach to drugs over the next four years. The membership is drawn from Departments, associated agencies and people with lived experience. I am very mindful that we work with people with lived experience and clinical and research expertise. The steering group is supported by a reference group of stakeholders who compliment the technical expertise, ensuring the new strategy is informed by real-world knowledge and lived experience. That is what I am going on now. I totally agree with Members that it is all about families and people with lived experience. The membership is drawn from civil society, task forces, community-based service providers and family support services from around the country. A significant proportion have lived and living experience of drugs. Both groups are well advanced in their work and are on track to deliver the draft strategy by December 2025. I am committed to publishing the successor drugs strategy in early 2026 and I am determined to avoid delays, as was emphasized by the chairs of the citizens' assembly and the joint committees.

The Government allocated over €300 million on drug-related public expenditure in 2023, including €160 million on drug services. This represents an increase of 28% on 2017 funding levels. A further €4.2 million and 34 posts for drug services and initiatives was secured in budget 2025. Additional investment of €11 million was secured in budget 2026 to address gaps in service provision. I am very mindful about services as well. It is very important that we have the services for anybody that needs to access services around the whole country. This funding will enhance access to and delivery of drug services in the community. It will also strengthen the prevention of drug use among children and young people and minimise the harms of drug use for families and communities.

In developing the new strategy, we must consider the wide prevalence of problem drug use across society and provide appropriate services to meet the health and social needs of the diverse population groups who use drugs. A record figure of 13,295 cases were treated for problem drug use in 2024. This represents a 50% increase in the capacity of treatment places since 2017 and reflects our ongoing investment in expanding services. Demand for drug treatment is across all regions of the country, all age groups, men and women, people with children and those without, and those who are unemployed as well those in employment. We are looking across all the sectors. A supervised injecting facility opened in Dublin city in December 2024. I am delighted that during its first seven months, staff have assisted over 1000 clients and there have been over 120 interventions to prevent a fatal overdose. I have seen how the facility is helping to save lives. The facility will be evaluated over the 18-month pilot phase, and this will inform decisions about the continuation of the Dublin facility and the development of facilities in other regions. We are looking at that too.

The programme for Government commits to divert those found in possession of drugs for personal use to health services. This will be done through the health diversion scheme. This scheme embodies the health-led approach to drugs and it will lead to better outcomes for people and communities. Along with the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, I have agreed that the scheme will start on an administrative basis. While the possession of controlled drugs will remain illegal, people with drugs for personal use will be given the opportunity to engage voluntarily with healthcare services. Health and well-being are something I am mindful of. An Garda Síochána and the Director of Public Prosecutions are finalising the operational details. Once we have sign-off, the scheme will start at a national level. The scheme is in line with the recommendation of the citizens' assembly.

I am very aware of the loss and grief felt by the families who have lost loved ones to drug overdose. Each life lost is one too many. The risk of drug overdose deaths can be reduced further by getting people into drug treatment and increasing access to Naloxone, which is the antidote for opioid-related overdose. My Department is working closely with the HSE to increase awareness and accessibility of Naloxone. That is really one of our key issues going forward. It is important that this lifesaving medication is made more accessible to support workers, peers, and family members.

In 2024, 1,758 people participated in naloxone administration training and 6,944 units of naloxone were supplied by the HSE to services. I reaffirm my intention to publish as soon as possible the successor national drugs strategy covering the period from 2026 to 2029, accompanied by a two-year action plan. I will have an action plan every two years. That will be worked with all of us. There are several more actions we need to take. Drugs are changing all the time. This is a changing world. All of us in this House are very mindful of that. We cannot be complacent about the harms and dangers associated with illicit drug use and a volatile drugs market. It is imperative that we have a drugs strategy relevant to the times we live in that responds to the continuing health and societal problems presented by established and new illicit drugs; it is always changing. We also need to align our drugs strategy with the forthcoming EU drugs strategy and to reflect the urgency given to drugs by the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use. It is my intention to continue to engage with the Oireachtas, including the Joint Committee on Drug Use, in implementing the successor strategy so that there is cross-party support for the strategy.

I am glad to be here. As I said, we are not opposing this motion. All of us need to work together. Drugs are a huge challenge across the whole country. It requires all of us working together through services and the drugs task force which was brought up earlier as a Topical Issue. We have 24 drug task forces around the country which do excellent work and are on the ground in communities and the different agencies attached. My aim as Minister of State is to work together to get the solutions, get the strategy right and get the services right for those who need them. That is what I intend to do.

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