Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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It is sometimes very hard to know how to articulate something that I have been campaigning on for almost seven years. Along with others, I have been convinced for a long time of the necessity for Ireland to change its drug policy. I have been working with others in other political parties, movements, lobby groups and community groups to try to get Ireland to change its view of the drug user. In all that, there is now space for us to talk as a country about the treatment we have handed down to those who have used drugs, who use drugs and who are in addiction services.

There is a significant misunderstanding of the nature of drug use. We have attempted over the course of the history of the State to shame those who take drugs as much as we possibly can, and to criminalise them in an attempt to get them to stop, but that has been the most catastrophic policy failure on any level. It is an expensive disaster that causes misery, pain and death. The people who are most affected by it are the most vulnerable and powerless in Irish society. When we criminalise people for their addiction or drug use, we are actually criminalising marginalisation and disconnection because, disproportionately, the people who come into the criminal justice system as a result of being caught with something in their possession for their own personal use are from areas of disadvantage, are members of the Travelling community, are migrants or are people with disabilities. They are often people who are self-medicating trauma and pain and are trying to seek a connection. Irish society, the Irish Legislature and this State have decided to criminalise that disconnection and marginalisation in an attempt to correct that individual. It does not work. Some 70% of drug cases in front of the courts concern possession for personal use. It is a complete and utter waste of time, money and energy and it does not work.

We are waiting for the Minister of State. I and others in different parties in this Oireachtas have given him time, space and latitude to step up and be the advocate for a citizens' assembly on drugs. It would be easy for us in the Opposition to dismiss the idea of a citizens' assembly on drugs as being a mere talking shop, but my party and I decided that we had to come from a good and fair place to allow such an assembly to be established and advocate within it for what we are trying to advocate for, which is a radical overhaul of drug policy in Ireland. We are still waiting for the Minister of State and the Government to commit to establishing a citizens' assembly on drugs where we can start a proper national conversation on a failed policy and to replace it with something new.

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Ó Ríordáin for raising this issue and I welcome the opportunity to update the House regarding this very important topic. The programme for Government includes the commitment to convene a number of citizens' assemblies, including one to consider matters relating to drug use. The specific timing of future citizens' assemblies will shortly be finalised by the Government.

Consideration is being given to the appropriate methodology for future citizens' assemblies, including one on drug use. Decisions will be guided by the experience of the Citizens' Assembly on Gender Equality, which completed earlier this year. An independent researcher was appointed by the assembly to monitor and record, among other things, the perceived deliberative quality of the assembly. This report, published in July 2021, will assist in decisions on future assemblies' use of virtual meetings.By their very nature, citizens' assemblies require large gatherings to be truly effective. There has, therefore, been an unavoidable delay in the establishment of the next citizens' assembly due to public health restrictions arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Department of Health's approach to the citizens' assembly on drug use will be informed by theGovernment's health-led approach to people who use drugs, as outlined in the national drugs strategy. An important component of the health-led approach is the health diversion programme, which will offer compassion, not punishment, to people who use drugs. This approach will connect people with health services and provide a pathway to recovery, thereby avoiding a criminal conviction. As outlined in the programme for Government, the programme will be reviewed after the first year of implementation to ensure that it is meeting all of its aims and to make any necessary changes. This review could usefully inform the deliberations of the citizens' assembly on drug use.

A strategic priority for the implementation of the national drugs strategy for 2021 to 2025 is to promote alternatives to coercive sanctions for drug-related offences. This will include the exchange of best practice with EU member states, as part of the EU drugs strategy for 2021 to 2025. I believe, as the Deputy does, that a citizens' assembly could usefully consider the learnings from the health diversion programme and other similar alternatives to coercive sanctions.

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It could also inform the development of the next national drugs strategy to replace the existing strategy in 2025.

I have been in touch with the leaders and I understand that the timing of the citizens' assembly will be determined by the leaders of the three parties in Government. I hope, as I said, that this will be announced in the coming weeks.

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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There is a fantastic opportunity for this Oireachtas to achieve something. In recent years, a justice committee report on decriminalisation of drug users received the support of every political party. We passed radical legislation on the provision of an injecting centre. While it has been objected to, it remains law that we can establish an injecting facility in Ireland. That legislation was passed without a single objection from any Member of in this House. No one in these Houses is standing on a war-on-drugs platform or saying we need to have zero tolerance. Every Member of the Oireachtas, from what I can see, is talking about the humane treatment of the person who is addicted to drugs because of the nature of that person's struggle to overcome the reasons he or she got into addiction and the pathway that person needs to get out of it.

I take great comfort from the Minister of State's answer because he is saying we will have a decision on the citizens' assembly on drugs in the coming weeks. Until this point, I have heard so many reasons we cannot have the citizens' assembly. I understand we have Covid and people want citizens' assemblies on other areas, including biodiversity and education. I understand all that. The problem here is that the people who are most acutely affected by this are probably the most powerless people in the State. There is a sense that their addiction is their own fault and there is a significant level of victim blaming. They are probably the only cohort in this land who people can use a derogatory term to describe on any radio or television programme at any hour of the day or night and get away with it. This is why this is so important. I appreciate the Minister of State's answer, but can we get movement on this in a short time? Can we have the citizens' assembly established before the summer so that we can at least offer those who feel as if they have no voice a process to begin healing and take a new approach to drug use in Ireland?

Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Ó Ríordáin for the opportunity to provide an update. As I said, the programme for Government includes a commitment to convene a number of citizens' assemblies, including one to consider matters relating to drug use. The specific timing of future citizens' assemblies will shortly be finalised by the Government. I look forward to those dates.

The Government established a working group to consider alternative approaches to the possession of drugs for personal use in December 2017. The work programme of the group consisted of meetings with experts from other countries, commissioning research on other jurisdictions and undertaking a public consultation. The consultation process received responses from over 20,000 people and included the views of many people who use drugs. The working group examined the option of decriminalising drugs and did not deem this as an appropriate option in the Irish context due to legal difficulties which could lead to de facto legalisation of drugs as well as operational problems for An Garda Síochána.

The Government accepted the views of the working group on the decriminalisation of drugs and, accordingly, there are no plans to decriminalise drugs. In line with this working group's recommendations, the Government agreed a health-led approach to the possession of drugs for personal use in the form of the health diversion programme. I assure the House that we are in step with other EU member states on this issue as the health diversion programme is aligned with the strategic priority in the EU Drugs Strategy 2021-2025 to provide alternatives to coercive sanctions for people who use drugs.

In budget 2022, I secured an additional €6 million for new measures to support the implementation of the national drugs strategy. This includes €700,00 million to commence the implementation of the health diversion programme. It will establish a national network of health screening and brief intervention services for people referred to the programme.

I look forward to the commencement of the health diversion programme which will demonstrate a health-led approach in how we deal with people who use drugs. Deputy Ó Ríordáin is correct. We want to take the stigma out of this issue. The national drugs strategy and the health diversion programme will be a start. I look forward in the coming weeks to the Government and the three party leaders determining a date for a citizens' assembly.