Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I am amazed when I see some people, including one of my own sons, who might not have a tosser in their pockets and who do not save, spending huge sums of money on a Friday or Saturday night. Such people do not have the deposit when they want to buy a house, yet their throughput of money is enormous. They spend all their money today and do not leave public houses until they are thrown out. It will take a few years to undo that trend.

I should keep to my brief rather than ramble. I thank the Senators for their supportive comments. I hope we can continue to implement the strategy. To date, many of the targets are being or are close to being met. The problem is to keep the agencies and the Departments on their toes. Sometimes people feel that if the funds of the agencies, health boards or Government Departments were cut a little, they would revert to the position in which they were a few years ago and would be reluctant to stay involved.

The drugs issue was established as a Government priority in 1995 or 1996 and has remained so ever since. We must continue to prioritise it because it would be silly to lose the ground we have made up. We will never stop drugs coming in and we must be as vigilant as possible in tackling the problem. The Garda has had some great success. Fundamentally, the strategy aims to make people aware of the dangers and pitfalls of drugs so they can make decisions that affect their lives.

Sitting suspended at 1.15 p.m. and resumed at 2.30 p.m.