Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)

I thank my colleague, Deputy Sherlock, for bringing forward this important motion. I also acknowledge our MEP, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, for his considerable work. He has brought many of us in the Labour Party on a journey in relation to drug education and its effects on society. It is an education we can all be part of and need to be part of. The Minister of State mentioned in her remarks a political dispute on the drugs issue. We cannot have a political dispute on a drugs issue. We must all, as she said, work together because this is about people and families. That is the language we must start using when talking about a drugs strategy. As has been said by many of my colleagues, decriminalisation of drugs for personal use puts the person in addiction at the centre and offers opportunities for recovery.

That is the most important item we can discuss today. The Minister is right. Drug addiction, which used to be an urban issue, is now in every corner of this country. In every small village, every rural area and every small town in this country, drug addiction is an issue. There is absolutely no doubt about that and it is communities that are being affected day in, day out. We need to take a health-led approach to this but we also need to take a whole-of-society approach. It was my colleague, Deputy Kelly, who spoke about sporting clubs and I want to concentrate on that as well for a moment. I am glad that he, as committee chair, will lead on this because we have to have a discussion in our sports clubs about addiction. Too many of our athletes are suffering from drug addiction. It is only when, as another colleague of mine said, you are in a pub, you see it seems easier now to get your fix than it is to get a takeaway in most of these places. It is just a matter of a phone call and then that addiction is fed. That is a problem.

It is also very important to talk about services today. The Minister will be aware, being next door to us in Athy in Kildare, that I am a director of Willow Community Counselling Services, which is just up the road from her. However, the problem with Willow Community Counselling Services is that we are going cap in hand begging for funding. Sharon Malloy is doing absolutely tremendous work there and yet we are getting knocked back every time we go looking for funding. When it comes to our meetings, which we have regularly, the one topic is funding.

In the time I have left, I also want to mention Cuan Mhuire and Nicola Kelly and Sr. Consilio, who do great work. That is the type of service we need to have because they give people hope. These services are in every village and every town and community groups are coming together now to support those with addiction.

We must treat this as a human story and we must use the language that these are our brothers, our sisters, our cousins, our aunts and our uncles. That is the new strategy to which we must talk when we are talking about drug strategy in this country.

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