Results 101-120 of 186 for drugs speaker:Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

Seanad: Misuse of Drugs (Supervised Injecting Facilities) Bill 2016: Committee and Remaining Stages (10 May 2017)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I want to put on record what a wonderful moment it is in our Oireachtas to finally pass this Bill. I acknowledge the members of the Ana Liffey Drug Project who are in the Visitors Gallery. They have been working over a number of years to make this day a reality. I thank the Minister of State for taking this on and for bringing it to today's point at which it will finally pass and become...

Seanad: Intoxicating Liquor (Amendment) Bill 2017: Second Stage (12 Apr 2017)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...very powerful lobby group, whose influence on Irish legislation is something that must be tackled. I make reference again to its objections to the injecting centres. It is remarkable how it feels the drug it pedals is somehow more socially acceptable than what we are trying to control in injecting centres. Fundamentally, as somebody who believes in the separation of church and state, on...

Seanad: Misuse of Drugs (Supervised Injecting Facilities) Bill 2017: Second Stage (5 Apr 2017)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...Féin who was very supportive of this from the very beginning, Independent Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan, and Deputy Jack Chambers from Fianna Fáil, who made a submission in support to the national drugs strategy. This initiative will save lives. On that basis I do not see how anybody can logically have any issue with it. Obviously the regulations will have to be investigated...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) (Voting at 16) Bill 2016: Second Stage (29 Mar 2017)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...when one has a mortgage one gets a bit weird and begins to worry about stuff that will happen in one's area. One becomes a little bit more conservative when it comes to halting sites, injecting and drug treatment centres and social housing. Would not it be wonderful if a generation of young people without mortgages could stand up for decency, equality, public services and the things in...

Seanad: Order of Business (8 Feb 2017)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...time. We will oppose when necessary, but we will also support when necessary. The Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, is to be congratulated. It is a proud day for her and the Oireachtas that our drug policy is becoming much more enlightened. She is doing an excellent job in this regard. I hope to stand in the Chamber and see the legislation go through the House in the coming weeks.

Seanad: Northern Ireland: Statements (26 Jan 2017)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...who had no formal qualifications. Other speakers have mentioned marriage equality and other social issues that rarely get an airing. I was at a meeting in Belfast before Christmas on the issue of drugs. There are serious social issues, such as equality that need to be addressed. The hardline nationalistic stances of either side of the debate are the views that come to the fore. It is...

Seanad: Junior Cycle Reform: Motion (25 Jan 2017)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...or discussions in the classroom, but children need to be aware of both. We should also not have divides so people from a part of the country with no knowledge of the background of housing policy, drug policy or how tuberculosis was such a killer in the city in the 1940s might be exposed to it and discover an interest in it, so when it comes to debating national policy perspectives and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of Misuse of Drugs (Supervised Injecting Facilities) Bill 2016: Discussion (30 Nov 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...issue that I have heard in the past number of years. He spoke in stark terms. He repeated one of his sentences in order to ensure that we all understood the magnitude of the situation and how drug overdose has reached epidemic level. He stated twice that In Ireland, more people die from opiate overdose each year than in road accidents. I agree with much of what has been said by...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of Misuse of Drugs (Supervised Injecting Facilities) Bill 2016: Discussion (30 Nov 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...that is policed. The situation will be same when it comes to an injecting centre. The Garda representatives, who are knowledgeable about the law, know the difference between a person who is pushing drugs and a person who is the victim. If a person is interacting with this centre in a positive proper way, is it not similar to a person who has a chronic addiction but is going to a...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Drug Treatment Programmes Availability (10 Nov 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I welcome the Minister of State. As part of my responsibilities when I was Minister of State with responsibility for the national drugs strategy, I took the opportunity to visit as many clinics and speak to as many service operators and service users as I could. Last year, I visited a clinic on Granby Row off Dorset Street where I met a wonderful woman who was travelling from the midlands...

Seanad: Address by An Taoiseach (Resumed) (29 Sep 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...Buttimer, it is incumbent on us in this House to work together to try to solve problems, a few of which I want to raise with the Taoiseach in my short contribution. Senator Ruane and I work in the drugs area and want to have good engagement with the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne. Senators Kelleher and Mac Lochlainn and I, who work on the Traveller ethnicity issue, hope to get good...

Seanad: Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (30 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I move amendment No. 2:In page 5, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following:“Possession of controlled drugs for personal use 8.Notwithstanding anything in the Misuse of Drugs Acts 1977 to 2015, in any proceedings for an offence under those Acts it shall be a defence to prove that the defendant had in his or her possession a controlled drug for his or her personal use and for no...

Seanad: Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages (30 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: Certain comments were read out during the debate and attributed to me when I was Minister of State with responsibility for the national drugs strategy. I refer specifically to remarks I made in a speech in London. I advise the Minister of State that it may be useful not to use speeches that have been written for her. In my previous role as Minister of State, I rarely read out a speech that...

Seanad: Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...of the Minister of State not that long ago. In public life, it is very rare to come to the conclusion that everything we are doing is wrong. We have come to the conclusion that the issue with drugs lies with the substances and that if we just control them, everything will be fine. Addition, however, is not just about the substance, it is about circumstances, disconnection and...

Seanad: Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...to deal with it another time. The Minister of State indicated the Bill would be likely to come before us in the autumn. She said we would deal with decriminalisation at some other stage. There were 679 drug and alcohol-related deaths in 2013. Addicts have very limited access in terms of having a voice. What Senator Ruane, Senator Black and others have said is that it is surely a...

Seanad: Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (29 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I move amendment No. 2:In page 5, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following: “Possession of controlled drugs for personal use 8. Notwithstanding anything in the Misuse of Drugs Acts 1977 to 2015, in any proceedings for an offence under those Acts it shall be a defence to prove that the defendant had in his or her possession a controlled drug for his or her personal use and for...

Seanad: Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill 2016: Second Stage (23 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: I welcome the Minister of State and wish her well in her endeavours. It is a positive to have a Minister of State with responsibility for the national drugs strategy with the background that she has, and also that she has no other responsibilities and that this will be her main focus. The Bill arises from the High Court case of March 2015. So we have been waiting for this legislation for...

Seanad: Order of Business (15 Jun 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: ...to them. I wish to raise two issues. I was taken aback by the response of the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, to Senator Ruane's Commencement matter today on the nature of addiction and drugs issues. It appears that the Minister is intending to separate the Misuse of Drugs Act into two different pieces of legislation, which I do not think is necessary. What is needed in this House...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Misuse of Drugs (2 Feb 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: “Z-drugs” refers to a group of prescription medicines (zopiclone, zolpidem and zaleplon) which are used to treat insomnia, and which have the potential for misuse. The supply of prescription medicines is controlled in a number of ways. Under the Medicinal Products (Prescription and Control of Supply) Regulations, it is prohibited for a person to supply a prescription...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Drug and Alcohol Task Forces (13 Jan 2016)

Aodhán Ó Ríordáin: The budget allocation for the twenty four Local and Regional Drug and Alcohol Task Forces from the Drugs Initiative of the Department of Health and the Health Service Executive in each of the years referred to by the Deputy is set out in the table hereunder: LDATFs 2011 2012 2013 2014 DOH 2014 HSE 2015 DOH 2015 HSE 2016 DOH 2016 HSE Ballyfermot  1,492,413 1,569,489 1,522,404 461,150...