Results 1-20 of 78 for drugs speaker:Mark Ward

Written Answers — Department of Health: Departmental Policies (30 Apr 2024)

Mark Ward: 611. To ask the Minister for Health for an update on Ireland's drug policy following the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs; the next steps following the recommendations from the Citizens' Assembly; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19307/24]

Gambling Regulation Bill 2022: Report Stage (24 Apr 2024)

Mark Ward: ...add value. It is not only me saying that as it is evidence-based and has been proven. I worked in addiction services for countless years before I came in here and I have seen people with drug problems, alcohol problems and gambling problems. I have also seen these people recover. I have also seen these people come into organisations, whether to work directly for organisations or to...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: An Garda Síochána (22 Feb 2024)

Mark Ward: ...list waiting for social housing. That council's process is that it seeks some sort of Garda vetting, or some sort of okay from a superintendent, that the person moving in has not got a record. Drug charges or violence are usually the two things they look for in that regard. I ask for some sort of cross-departmental co-operation to see if there is any assistance we can give the...

Road Traffic Bill 2024: Second Stage (13 Feb 2024)

Mark Ward: ...our roads is the failure to adequately resource road policing units. We need to see consequences for bad behaviour. Unless we adequately resource our roads policing units to detect people who are drink-driving, drug-driving or using their phones while driving, the numbers of collisions, fatalities and life-changing injuries will continue to increase. I live in Dublin and I drive...

Misuse of Drugs (Cannabis Regulation) Bill 2022: Second Stage [Private Members] (31 Jan 2024)

Mark Ward: ...have seen at first-hand how difficult it is for the services I have managed and worked in to access the funding our communities vitally need. There is also a narrative that cannabis is a harmless drug with little or no short-term consequences. In one drug service I managed, which was visited by Deputy Ó Ríordáin when he was the Minister of State with responsibility for...

Tribunal of Inquiry into certain matters relating to the Complaints Processes in the Defence Forces: Motion (24 Jan 2024)

Mark Ward: ...to focus on the actual complaints rather than the complaints process. Many Defence Forces personnel did not make complaints for fear of reprisal. The first Defence Forces members prescribed the anti-malaria drug, Lariam, while they were serving overseas, many of whom have got in touch with me, are an example of this. Side-effects of this drug include depression, neurological disorders,...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Addiction Treatment Services (24 Jan 2024)

Mark Ward: 198. To ask the Minister for Health for an update on €800,000 announced for dedicated recovery initiatives in Budget 2024 for the National Drugs Strategy; when the funding application will open; how the funding will be allocated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3178/24]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Addiction Treatment Services (12 Oct 2023)

Mark Ward: 180. To ask the Minister for Health the number of Section 39 organisations that work within addiction and drug-related services; the number of staff employed in Section 39 organisations in this area; their rates of pay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44495/23]

Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation (6 Jul 2023)

Mark Ward: Front-line community drug services are having to turn people away due to the lack of funding. Those concerned have said services are now on life support. I was present for the pre-budget submission by the local drug and alcohol task forces yesterday. The name of the submission is "Services on a Shoestring", and that says it all. The services face a huge increase in demand. I have worked...

Youth Justice Strategy: Statements (21 Jun 2023)

Mark Ward: ...crime for some time now has been the grooming of minors into criminality. Criminals offer a lifestyle of flashy clothes and quick money to young people, whom they use in the sale and running of drugs. Let me be clear that these criminals are nobodies and they suck the lifeblood of young people from our communities. They do not run our communities. Our communities are run by hardworking...

Written Answers — Department of Justice and Equality: Departmental Data (1 Jun 2023)

Mark Ward: 251. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality how many people availed of the drugs treatment court, per location in 2022; the outcomes of same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26839/23]

Criminal Justice (Engagement of Children in Criminal Activity) Bill 2023: Second Stage (31 May 2023)

Mark Ward: ...rehabilitation should take place within their communities. This would give more young people, who could be influenced by older criminals, the resilience to resist their coercive control. There is also the scourge of drug debt intimidation in our communities. If a young person is caught with a quantity of drugs, the criminals demand payment. They often exaggerate the price and put...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Youth Services (25 May 2023)

Mark Ward: ...the areas I represent are crying out for addiction services for those under 18 years of age, for example. Those are some of the things that can be put in place. Many young people start using drugs before the age of 25, and at the moment taking a drug is a criminal offence. We all look forward to recommendations of the citizens' assembly on drug use that is ongoing. This youth...

Organised Crime: Statements (20 Apr 2023)

Mark Ward: ...are being manipulated. They want the money in their pockets, the brand new jackets and runners and the status of being a somebody but these criminals are absolute nobodies. Sinn Féin's Bill - the Coercion of a Minor (Misuse of Drugs Amendment) Bill - would help address this. If the Government could invest properly in the communities in which these young people live, it could...

Joint Committee On Children, Equality, Disability, Integration And Youth: Youth Work and Integrated Care and Education: Discussion (21 Mar 2023)

Mark Ward: ...a new manager come into the service that I was working in who decided that we were not funded for that. After him having the conversation with the young people, they said that I never talked about drugs. When he came back to me and said that I was not even talking about their drug use, I said that the drug use was only a symptom. That was not the problem. It is a symptom of whatever...

Joint Committee On Health: Dual Diagnosis and Mental Health: Discussion (21 Mar 2023)

Mark Ward: Absolutely. Ms McGillivary and Mr. Williams might be able to answer my next question. On that 90%, the service users who are more likely to be using the Chrysalis Community Drug Project and Sankalpa services, what can we, as legislators, decision-makers and people whose voices are sometimes, although not all the time, heard in here, do to help these services? How do we get their message...

Joint Committee On Health: Dual Diagnosis and Mental Health: Discussion (21 Mar 2023)

Mark Ward: ...community. There is the trauma of disadvantaged communities and the trauma of poverty. Other traumas have been mentioned. They do not know postcodes. It could happen to anybody. The thing about drink and drugs is that they give people the ability to escape the trauma. They work on a certain level until they do not work any more and the problems come in. They can calm anxiety. I...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Admissions (22 Feb 2023)

Mark Ward: 210. To ask the Minister for Health the number of persons presenting to emergency departments after being spiked with a drug or substance without their knowledge in each of the years from 2017 to date; if there has been an increase in presentations of syringe spiking; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8930/23]

Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use: Motion (21 Feb 2023)

Mark Ward: I welcome that progress has been made on the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use. Sinn Féin has been calling for this for the past four years or more. I am from an area of high disadvantage and have seen the devastation drugs have inflicted on my area since I was a child. I have lived in a community that has seen intergenerational addiction and trauma within families. When I say "high...

Health (Amendment) (Dual Diagnosis: No Wrong Door) Bill 2021: Second Stage [Private Members] (16 Feb 2023)

Mark Ward: ...me and for all their contributions. They are vital. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton. This is my first engagement with her as the Minister of State with responsibility for drugs. I wish her the very best in her new role because it is an important one. It is something we need to do better on as a society. I also thank the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for being...