Tom Morrissey (Progressive Democrats)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I thank Fine Gael for tabling this motion, which allows the Minister of State to put forward the Government's proposals for dealing with the drugs problem.

The level of drug taking is, in some part, due to the prosperity we have witnessed in the last number of years. With that prosperity has come a level of spending by our young people never before witnessed. We cannot overlook this fact. Recently, I was shocked to hear a national broadcaster, Eamon Dunphy, boast about his drug taking activities on a national television channel.