Results 1-20 of 79 for drugs speaker:Mark Ward

Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2019: Second Stage [Private Members] (11 Dec 2019)

Mark Ward: I welcome the opportunity to discuss Ireland's approach to drugs both publicly and politically and how that it is reflected in policy. I have worked in addiction centres across Dublin for many years, including in my area of Clondalkin, where I worked for the Clondalkin Addiction Support Programme. I have years of real-life experience working with people across the spectrum of addiction,...

Coercion of a Minor (Misuse of Drugs Amendment) Bill 2022: First Stage (26 Jan 2022)

Mark Ward: I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the law relating to the misuse of a controlled substance and for those purposes to amend the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 to criminalise the act of causing or coercing a minor to be in possession of a controlled substance, and to provide for related matters. Drug use and drug selling by young people from disadvantaged...

Coercion of a Minor (Misuse of Drugs Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage [Private Members] (20 Oct 2022)

Mark Ward: ...is to make it more difficult for older, more experienced criminals to groom children into criminality. The cycle of poverty and disadvantage leading to children being vulnerable to grooming by drug gangs is something that we, as legislators, need to break. Our Bill will help address that, and will ensure that the Garda and the Courts Service can charge a criminal with what is effectively...

Coercion of a Minor (Misuse of Drugs Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage [Private Members] (20 Oct 2022)

Mark Ward: ...our communities so we can combat this issue to begin with. Deputy Paul Donnelly referred to smaller classrooms in DEIS areas and other areas. We also need to make sure that we fully resource our drug and alcohol task forces. I was a director of the Clondalkin drug and alcohol task force for many years. Earlier we talked about crack cocaine. There were so many times we had chances to...

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...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (8 Jul 2020)

Mark Ward: I want to bring the Taoiseach's attention to page 56 of the programme of Government, which references a commitment to resource harm reduction and education campaigns in regard to drug misuse. That is around nitrous oxide, or laughing gas as it is commonly known, in particular. One only has to walk around my area of Dublin Mid-West to see discarded silver canisters and silver bullets in our...

Joint Committee On Health: Addiction Services: Discussion (14 Jun 2022)

Mark Ward: Can I move on to drug debt intimidation? The witness gave a really graphic view of the reality of what is happening out there. I am from an area where it happens on a regular basis. I have a Bill before the Oireachtas on the coercion of a minor into drug use. As mentioned, that seems to be happening fairly regularly. I am interested in that drug related intimidation reporting programme...

Covid-19 (Drug and Alcohol Services, and Homelessness): Statements (18 Feb 2021)

Mark Ward: Funding for local drug task forces is €3 million less than it was ten years ago, despite repeated promises from successive Governments. As a former director of the Clondalkin Drug and Alcohol Task Force, I have seen at first hand how addiction services have tried to do more with less. Drug and alcohol task forces need multi-annual funding to provide the services their communities...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Drug Dealing (9 Nov 2021)

Mark Ward: As the Minister of State knows, crack cocaine is a dirty, hungry drug. There is no such thing as enough for the people who are using it and that is the problem with it. It is not a new thing. It has been around for years. I worked on drugs task forces more than 20 years ago and crack cocaine was on the scene then, but because of the lack of resources they had at the time, they were unable...

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]

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Health Services (7 Dec 2021)

Mark Ward: ...resilience across many Departments, and not only the Department of Health. Last week, it was about dismantling the local jobs clubs, and this week it relates to community involvement in the drugs strategy. There seems to be a direct threat from the Government to communities and their resilience. Any chance the Government has to erode such resilience is grabbed with both hands. I am...

Scrambler Motorbikes and Quad Bikes: Motion [Private Members] (17 Nov 2020)

Mark Ward: ...real danger in which they are putting that child and the impact it will have on their neighbours. I will also raise the very real issue of scramblers being used for the transport and dealing of drugs. It is common knowledge in parts of my community that unscrupulous dealers are using young people to deliver and sell drugs. Unfortunately, using children as drug couriers is not a new...

Joint Committee On Health: Impact of Covid-19 on Children: Discussion (20 Oct 2021)

Mark Ward: ...in the Dáil last night, and I wonder whether the witnesses have had experience of it. We are seeing people as young as ten years of age being groomed by older criminals into criminality in terms of drug use, drug crime and transporting money. There has been a visible increase in the number of young people experimenting with drug use. For example, one can see discarded nitrous oxide...

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...

Drugs Policy: Motion [Private Members] (30 Nov 2022)

Mark Ward: ...He is a comrade of mine who, like myself, has worked in addiction services right across Dublin over the years. In all those years we have seen so many of our citizens fall between the cracks. The culture of drugs use has changed. Years ago, people who took drugs had a primary drug of choice but polydrug use is now the norm. It is almost impossible to get a detox bed if you are a...

Access of Competent Authorities to Centralised Bank Account Registries: Motion (19 Oct 2021)

Mark Ward: ...lifestyles and even more extravagant nicknames. Those who live or who have lived in areas targeted by organised crime have a different view. We have seen parts of our communities ripped apart by drug use and drug crime. On the one hand, we have seen our neighbours, friends and schoolmates stricken by drug use. On the other hand, we have seen young people’s lives wiped out on the...

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...

Ceisteanna ar Reachtaíocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation (13 Jan 2021)

Mark Ward: ..., CAB, over the years. The last figure I have since its inception in 1996 is €150 million. I come from an area in Dublin called north Clondalkin that has been disproportionately affected by drug use and drug dealing over the years. I have seen whole families being wiped out. Some of these have been relatives, neighbours and friends of mine over the years. The money seized by...

Joint Committee On Health: Impact of Covid-19 on Addiction Services: Discussion (13 Oct 2021)

Mark Ward: .... As someone who has worked in addiction services right across Dublin for most my adult life, I hear their pain in some of the stuff they mentioned. I was also on the board of the Clondalkin drugs and alcohol task force for a long time and one of the problems we had was budgetary constraints, which led to us being more reactive than proactive. As much as we tried to fight against that,...

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...