Barry Heneghan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)

Aontaím go láidir le go leor rudaí a bhí á rá ag Deputy McAuliffe ansin. Tá ár Dáilcheantair an-ghar dá chéile agus bímid ag obair ar na rudaí céanna. Míle buíochas le Páirtí an Lucht Oibre as an rún seo a thabhairt isteach sa Dáil. Tá sé thar a bheith tábhachtach dom.

I rith an toghcháin bhí mé ag dul ó dhoras go doras agus bhí go leor páirtithe sa Teach seo ag rá go mbeadh siad ar son an rud seo. It is important that what we said during the election is brought in to this House and carried through. Parties across this Chamber said that they would be for decriminalisation and some that said they would be for reducing the current system.

I also acknowledge a former Deputy in my constituency, Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, for the work he did on this. In November 2022, the Dáil agreed to move towards the decriminalisation of people who use drugs. We all remember. I have read the record of the Dáil from that time and the strong statements of that day.

Deputy McAuliffe mentioned the citizens' assembly report in January 2024 and the Oireachtas joint committee report in October last, but a lot of what we see in this House is report after report but no action.

As Deputy McAuliffe said about Deputy Tóibín mentioning the legalisation and how it would reduce use, the definition of "insanity" is doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different outcome. Clearly, the system we have is not working. I grew up with the current system. I have witnessed the amount of drug use in my Dáil ceantar.

It is important to say that the current system is not working. We need to put in education and preventative measures and treat this like a health issue because these people who have addiction need to be treated as such.

The programme for Government promised a health-led approach. That is the programme for Government I signed up to support. I also favour decriminalisation and the possible legalisation of medical cannabis. Constituents of mine who have been diagnosed with cancer would like to be able to use it as an easier measure. It has been shown it can help with appetite and anxiety for those going through chemo. It is something I will continue to push for.

In the meantime, drug use has been exploding. In 2024, the Health Research Board reported that cocaine accounted for 40% of all treatment cases. We are also seeing a dangerous increase in potency and synthetics. Going back to cannabis, the cannabis currently on the streets has a synthetic cannabinoid sprayed on it. Natural cannabis is not physically addictive but when synthetic cannabinoids, which are generated and sprayed by drug dealers, are used, it makes the stock they are giving to young teenagers physically addictive. Not only that, it is completely frying their brains. People are getting schizophrenia and psychosis, which is really bad. If we could look into what other countries, such as Canada and the Netherlands, have done, and look into reducing the amount and making it a regulated system, it would be very much better for young children and anyone going into it. It would bring them out of criminal connections. That is something we need to look at.

When we talk about reform, it is important to look at Portugal, which Members spoke about, and the change it made to personal possession in 2001. The evidence is clear. It is not just about statements. There is clear evidence that decriminalisation does not lead to a surge in drug use. In the years that followed Portugal's change, the use of most substances fell below the original levels in 2001. What changed was the stigma around it, the access to care, and people stopped dying alone. I have always used this analogy about the homeless crisis when I worked for Peter McVerry, but it goes hand in hand with drug use; if you see people floating down a river, you eventually stop just pulling them out of the river. You go to the top of the river to see why they are getting in there in the first place, to prevent them falling into homelessness and drug us, and to give them that support at the start of their lives. That is something I really support.

Ba mhaith liom míle buíochas a ghabháil le Páirtí an Lucht Oibre for bringing this back in. It is something I signed up to support during the election, with multiple people. I look forward to voting for this motion.

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