Results 61-79 of 79 for drugs speaker:Mark Ward

Proceeds of Crime (Investment in Disadvantaged Communities) (Amendment) Bill 2021: Second Stage [Private Members] (8 Jul 2021)

Mark Ward: ...criminals have been most active. It must, therefore, be returned to these communities. I represent Dublin Mid-West and I grew up in north Clondalkin. Parts of my constituency have been ripped apart by drug use and criminality over the years. It is no coincidence that some of our most disadvantaged communities are those most affected by crime. Years of cuts and stagnation in funding...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Drug and Alcohol Task Forces (11 May 2021)

Mark Ward: 762. To ask the Minister for Health the estimated cost of employing a dual diagnosis team to consist of a substance misuse counsellor and psychiatric nurse in each drug and alcohol service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24040/21]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Drug and Alcohol Task Forces (11 May 2021)

Mark Ward: 763. To ask the Minister for Health the estimated cost of providing cross sectoral training for dual diagnosis for all existing staff in each drug and alcohol service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24041/21]

Proceeds of Crime (Investment in Disadvantaged Communities) (Amendment) Bill 2021: First Stage (28 Apr 2021)

Mark Ward: ...Féin has always advocated that any money seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau should be put back into communities to tackle disadvantage, as well as to fund prevention, treatment and rehabilitation drug services. Deputy Ó Snodaigh raised this issue over ten years ago. I represent the Dublin Mid-West constituency and I am from north Clondalkin. Parts of my constituency have been...

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...

Counterfeiting Bill 2020: Second Stage (11 Feb 2021)

Mark Ward: ...possessed by large criminal gangs. Most things in life have a way of filtering down but dirty money also filters up. The money that the mother borrowed from the credit union to pay the drug debts of her child flows right up to the modern skyscrapers where, at the click of a button, it is sanitised. A recent report stated that a quarter of the people in Dublin's north-east inner...

Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Second Stage (27 Jan 2021)

Mark Ward: ...pound operates as the dog warden centre for the greater Dublin area and is used by all four local authorities. Last summer, gardaí were called in to investigate whether unauthorised veterinary drugs were used to sedate and euthanise dogs there. It is time all four local authorities in Dublin developed their own dog pounds to be managed by themselves or by one of the reputable animal...

Health (Amendment) (Dual Diagnosis: No Wrong Door) Bill 2021: First Stage (21 Jan 2021)

Mark Ward: ...mental health issue and a mental health issue can lead to people using substances as a coping mechanism. Because of the inadequacies in our mental health system, people can often turn to drink and drugs and other substances. These substances can give people the ability to self-soothe. They can give calm to an anxious inner world. They can give the ability to self-medicate, for want of...

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...

Mental Health Policy: Motion [Private Members] (9 Dec 2020)

Mark Ward: ...Imagine having a one-stop shop where a person's physical and mental health needs could be met at the same time. Failure to appropriately resource mental healthcare in general practitioners has led to an over-reliance on drug therapy. Any move from a policy of "every ill has a pill" is welcome and access to talk therapies like counselling is central to such a change. Sometimes the best...

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...

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate: Suicide Incidence (12 Nov 2020)

Mark Ward: ...among young women in Ballyfermot, Clondalkin and Tallaght last year. The fact that the HSE investigation has linked these deaths to the housing crisis, domestic violence, poverty and recreational drug use is a clear message that the Government must act. Parts of Ballyfermot, Clondalkin and Tallaght are traditionally disadvantaged areas with high levels of poverty. Poverty underpins all...

Community Safety and Fireworks: Motion [Private Members] (22 Sep 2020)

Mark Ward: ...have been targeted and have considered closing their shops and premises earlier. Families and workers have had their quality of life impacted. Children on the autism spectrum who are more sensitive to noise and light are terrified. Fireworks are, however, the symptom of a larger problem. Antisocial behaviour is on the increase, along with open drug dealing and scrambler bikes becoming...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (Resumed) (14 Jul 2020)

Mark Ward: There has been an upsurge in people drinking at home during Covid-19 and in numbers presenting for treatment for drug and alcohol issues. My question relates to dual diagnosis. I did not see any mention of it in the report published today. I have worked in several addiction centres across Dublin in a professional capacity. All present know that drink and drugs give people the ability to...

Special Committee on Covid-19 Response: Non-Covid Healthcare Disruption: Mental Health Services (Resumed) (14 Jul 2020)

Mark Ward: Mr. Ryan referred to being involved in a drugs task force in the 2000s. I was a board member of the board of a local drugs task force at that time. The budgets of such task forces have probably not increased since 2000. That is one of the problems they are facing. A drugs task force may wish to provide, for example, some sort of mental health service or dual diagnosis service, but if that...

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...

Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (30 Jun 2020)

Mark Ward: ...-term investment so they can budget for and provide services for emerging needs and not just current needs, and so they can be proactive instead of reactive to problems as they arise. The 14 local drug and alcohol task forces need an increase of funding to allow them to plan strategically for the long-term services they need to provide comprehensively, and for which the sector is crying...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Substance Misuse (30 Jun 2020)

Mark Ward: 424. To ask the Minister for Health if he will instruct the HSE to include information on nitrous oxide under the solvent's category on drugs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12931/20]

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,...