Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State to discuss this important report and the problems associated with drugs. I will speak particularly about the problems in Dublin, the location with which I am most familiar. As the Minister of State probably knows, I live in a part of the city with a high level of drug abuse and, more important, with a large number of people who are in the business of supplying them. Many of them are well-known characters. It is frustrating for public representatives and, even more so, for people living in these communities to see these people abscond from the State, as some have done, and the gardaí fail to get to grips with them. Much crime revolves around their activities. We can see that in the number of gangland killings in our city in recent years. An increasing number of deaths have resulted from the drugs industry yet we are not getting to grips with it.

The importers and suppliers of drugs are destroying the lives of many of our young people. We are not coming to grips with this problem. The numbers involved are staggering. I accept that the problem is difficult and will become more so as these suppliers find new ways of importing drugs. Technology assists them and they are finding new and better ways of importing and selling drugs. The expansion of the European Union and the removal of border controls make it even more difficult for the gardaí to tackle this problem. However, tackle it they must and they must be given the resources to do so.

When we think of drugs we tend to think of cannabis, cocaine and heroin. There is a growing incidence of the misuse of prescription medication and of forging prescriptions in order to obtain them. We must keep an eye on this problem and do our best to tackle it.

While we continue to talk about drug abuse and the reasons for it, the core of the solution lies in putting structures in place to deal with drug abusers. I am concerned about the treatment and rehabilitation of drug abusers. While much has been done in the past couple of years there are still many drug abusers who want to receive treatment but remain on waiting lists. I am also concerned about the quality of the service they receive when they have reached the top of the waiting list. Organisations involved in this area complain about the lack of access to counselling, support and after-care. These need to be improved.

It is shocking to hear of the growth in the use of cocaine. For too long we spoke about the heroin problem in Dublin while it was allowed to worsen. We now know about the cocaine problem. It must be tackled urgently before we have a crisis on our hands.

Poor housing and homelessness cause problems for drug users who want to rehabilitate themselves. Housing is also the responsibility of the Minister of State. Every night we see homeless people on our streets. If people who are trying to come off drugs do not have a suitable place to live they are likely to fall back into their old ways. We must support the families of drug users and families who want to rid their communities of drugs. These families need support services which, obviously, cost money. Tackling poverty and marginalisation is the key to ensuring that people will not fall into a life of drug taking because the majority of drug users come from a background of poor educational achievement and family poverty. These are recipes for disaster. If we do not take people out of the poverty trap, they are likely to fall into drug abuse.

There must be greater co-ordination between the drug treatment and mental health services. The work of organisations involved in both these areas must be co-ordinated. The spread of HIV infection and AIDS is of concern and must be prevented by improving our health services.

The Criminal Assets Bureau is doing an excellent job. The money secured by the CAB through the confiscation of money and the sale of confiscated property should be redistributed to communities which have been affected by drugs. Money gained through the supply and sale of drugs should go back to those communities.

No matter what laws we have enacted, if we do not enforce them, we will not achieve the goals we have set ourselves. At the beginning of its term of office the Government promised to provide 2,000 extra gardaí. We need those gardaí now and not only to tackle the drugs problem. The provision of extra gardaí would help to rid our towns and cities of this serious problem.