Results 2,081-2,100 of 3,781 for speaker:Lynn Ruane

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Lynn Ruane: The working group received 22,000 submissions on decriminalisation. The evidence to the working group on decriminalisation was overwhelming, but the committee ignored it on the basis that we are not Portugal. Was the main conversation at that meeting that the Garda did not want to give up its powers to stop and search?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Lynn Ruane: Exactly, and we are politicians, and we make legislation. As a legislator, does the Minister of State realise what the situation is in respect of stop and search powers?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Lynn Ruane: It is not about normalising drugs; it is about people and what they do in their lives, their agency, their supports and their networks. It is about not excluding them from society because of their choice to take drugs. It is about fixing the poverty and inequality in communities where we have chaotic drug use. The Minister of State's statement was very strong, so much so that I texted him...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Lynn Ruane: It is a very important sentence.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Lynn Ruane: The Department of Health does not favour decriminalisation. Is the Minister of State saying that the Department supports and stands over the criminalisation of people for their drug use?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Lynn Ruane: We do not have a health-led approach because we criminalise people for their drug use.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Lynn Ruane: I know I am coming in hard, but the Minister of State must remember that I do not visit a treatment centre and ask people if they support legalisation. What I do is I ask my friends if they think they are criminals. If I ask the father of my child if he is a criminal for his drug use, he will say "No". I do not ask people if they think drugs should be legalised. We have to be careful...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Lynn Ruane: Then legalise it and then we will remove that. Let us have the conversation on legalisation. We gave them the market. We gave drug dealers the market.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Lynn Ruane: It is not evidence based. The working group ignored the evidence that was presented to it on criminalisation. It ignored the evidence so do not tell me that this policy is evidence based. It was one of three scenarios put forward and it was not the one that had the most evidence.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Lynn Ruane: It is not an opinion; it is a choice.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Lynn Ruane: Basically, there is a drug disparity that health-led approaches are prohibitionist. We will also have that discussion. We have a prohibitionist drugs Minister.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Lynn Ruane: It is the opposite.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Lynn Ruane: I will not be too long. Perhaps Mr. Walsh is better off answering my question, which is a continuation of the conversation with Deputy Hourigan and adds to it. Maybe there is nothing in it, but Mr. Walsh has emphasised a couple of times that there was funding there for the company. It is just an odd phrase to use because usually one would say the funding is there for the task force. I...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: National Drugs Strategy: Minister of State at the Department of Health (19 Jan 2022)

Lynn Ruane: I just wanted to figure that out. Being a chair of the task force, I am familiar with the SLA process and sat in those meetings recently in terms of the canal. Is there an issue with the current SLA, as it is being presented? Are there changes in this SLA, in comparison with the SLAs which used to be signed? They would usually be quite predictable and I wonder what the delay is in the...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Local Drugs Task Forces (15 Dec 2021)

Lynn Ruane: I thank Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, for being in the Chamber today. I purposely requested the Minister for Health because we are at a point of escalation in relation to the issue I speak to today. If I were in a position to do so, I probably would have called for the Taoiseach to come in to address the issue. He has spoken about it in the Dáil. What is happening right now with...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Local Drugs Task Forces (15 Dec 2021)

Lynn Ruane: I asked them for permission.

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Local Drugs Task Forces (15 Dec 2021)

Lynn Ruane: By blocking the appointment of a strong community nominee as chair, the professional integrity and reputation of both the outgoing and incoming chairs have been questioned and undermined. Unfounded allegations around governance issues are being made without producing, as I said, any shred of evidence whatsoever. Both are known to us all as people of the highest standing in their fields and...

Seanad: Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters: Local Drugs Task Forces (15 Dec 2021)

Lynn Ruane: I thank the Minister of State for his comments. I have just pulled up the handbook to check a particular point. If that overreach by an official in relation to the election of the chair had not happened we would not be in the position of saying the task force cannot operate at all. Task forces should be free to appoint their chair without interference by the Department, provided the chair:...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (15 Dec 2021)

Lynn Ruane: I, too, will not be speaking again on the Order of Business this week so I wish everyone, both Members and Oireachtas staff, a very happy Christmas. Christmas is a time I really enjoy. I love being at home with my family but it comes sometimes with a huge amount of guilt when I look around at my community and the hardships that people face. I can see the steady flow of loan sharks' cars...

Seanad: Companies (Corporate Enforcement Authority) Bill: Committee and Remaining Stages (15 Dec 2021)

Lynn Ruane: I move amendment No. 1: In page 9, line 5, after "of" to insert "financial and non-financial" I welcome the Bill and the aim behind it to put a stop to, or draw more attention to, crimes that are of a more privileged financial nature. It is essential that these crimes are properly investigated and prosecuted in Ireland. I want to take this opportunity to voice my support for the...