John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

I agree with Senator Ó Murchú that an advertising campaign is essential. We could perhaps consider opportunities available in the media, for example, RTE, which might make an effort in its programming to show the harrowing decline of drug addicts and the problems created in communities and for families caught up with drugs.

I welcome the publication of the first progress report of the National Advisory Committee on Drugs, which plays a vital role as partof the research pillar of the national drugs strategy. The importance of knowledge regarding the prevalence, prevention, treatment and consequences of drug use in Ireland is critical to focusing the efforts of the Government in the right direction in the fight against illegal drugs. I thank the committee for producing a professional report which not only details its research, but outlines its business plan and the planning behind awarding and monitoring research funding. The thoroughness and openness of the committee leaves me confident that its findings are precise and well researched.

The committee has been extremely proactive in addressing the tasks with which it was charged and I am thoroughly impressed with its work. In a three year period it has hosted or participated in over 30 conferences and events in Ireland and abroad and has also made over 26 presentations to a variety of different groups. All this work took place alongside and in harmony with the development of over 39 research projects. The committee deserves our thanks for its industry.

The flexibility and active co-operation of the National Advisory Committee on Drugs with different groups and projects is also significant. For example, I praise the great support the committee has provided and continues to provide to the first phase of the national drugs awareness campaign, both in providing information and tracking the effectiveness of the campaign. I am sure this invaluable collaboration will continue.

Illegal drugs inflict staggering costs on our society, undermine our national reputation and international image and hold us back in all sorts of ways. Moreover, they blight and destroy lives, especially, and increasingly, young lives. The entire population, not just city residents, at-risk groups or designated Government agencies, should be concerned about drug abuse. While the research published by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs shows that the vast majority of Irish people have never used illegal or harmful drugs, the figures show that drug use is no longer confined to our major urban centres. All strata of Irish life, advantaged or disadvantaged, urban or rural, are threatened by an insidious and unrelenting drugs trade.

Information is key in tackling this problem and is the starting point for good planning, policy and practice. A health research board survey conducted last year found that three out of every four Irish people do not have enough information about drugs. There can be no doubt that having the right information can help a person make better choices and decisions and also facilitate communication. When one has the right information, one feels more confident not only in the context of talking about drugs, but of doing so in an open and informed manner.

Since the National Advisory Committee on Drugs was launched in 2001, Departments and State agencies have made considerable progress in implementing the actions set out for them in the national drugs strategy. This progress is monitored through six-monthly progress reports of which there have been three to date. The Minister indicated as recently as yesterday in the Dáil that the national drugs strategy can be re-focused. If this is deemed necessary, it will be in no small way thanks to the ongoing research carried out by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs, which constantly improves our knowledge of the realities on the ground. I note that a mid-term review of the strategy is to be conducted later this year and I look forward to its findings.

Domestic efforts alone cannot address what is fundamentally a global problem fuelled by powerful international organisations. To this end I encourage all Government agencies, such as the Garda Síochána, to continue with determination and fervour the fight against those who sell drugs to our people without regard for their health. Domestic policy must focus on reducing the demand for drugs.

I reiterate that information is key. As a people, we can never have enough information in the fight against drugs. I thank the National Advisory Committee on Drugs for its unfaltering commitment to this fight and for filling gaps in our knowledge. I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House and wish him success as he oversees the national drugs strategy because we must prevent illegal drugs from darkening the promising dawn of our young people.