Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Noel Ahern, to the House to discuss this important matter which grows in seriousness with every passing week.

The Minister of State acknowledged the challenging nature of the task. It is very difficult to seal every port and harbour of our island community to combat the importation of drugs. The seriousness of the Minister of State's brief is acknowledged in his portfolio, but he covers the areas of competence of the Department of Education and Science and, regarding resources for gardaí, the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The job can be advanced and tackled only through collaboration on drug control between all Departments.

I will focus first on preventative measures. I acknowledge and welcome the fact that there has been an increase in personnel in the community sector. However, there are still considerable deficits in community infrastructure from Malin Head in County Donegal to Mizen Head in County Cork. We may think that we will tackle drugs and raise awareness of their dangers among young people through building sports facilities and community buildings. That is a key component, but we also need the human resources through a dedicated roll-out of youth workers by using the Youth Work Act 2001 as best we can. Youth workers must operate in a voluntary or paid capacity in every village, town and city.

I welcome the 650 extra jobs over the past nine years that the Minister of State mentioned, but that still does not go far enough. The voluntary sector has been crying out for some time for the roll-out of a proper, strategic, informal, paid community and youth work sector. The need was never more evident than in my county over the Hallowe'en period when we suffered a great many incidents of anti-social behaviour. They were not all down to idle minds with nothing to do, but we must work on the gap that exists at interdepartmental level.

We should use the Youth Work Act 2001 to bring together young people in informal settings. We must combine our energies in creating awareness of the dangers of drugs, including the constant heroin problems of this city. Those are the issues and challenges we must tackle. The Minister of State acknowledged the existence of programmes delivered through primary and secondary schools, which I also welcome. However, young people engage in a more relaxed and open way when they are placed in an informal setting. This will only happen when they are removed from their schools and uniforms and the top-down system of education that obtains in this country. They must be placed in the non-formal sector where they can engage with their peers and in which youth workers can create awareness among them. That is one of the preventative measures that is required. The Minister of State acknowledged that there are programmes in the primary and secondary sectors but such programmes must also operate in the non-formal sector.

The Garda Síochána is fighting a serious battle in respect of the drug epidemic in this country. It is trying to combat organised gangs, the advanced communication systems used by drug dealers and the absolute hunger that exists, especially in Dublin, for heroin. Gardaí are trying to fight this scourge. I urge the Minister of State to use his influence with the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Plain clothes officers are trying to intercept drug deals and identify the major players, and they are doing so without the use of guns, batons or bullet-proof vests. From the point of view of safety, a greater level of resources must be allocated in this regard. It is a miracle that those members of the force engaged in drug busts have not suffered serious injury or been killed. This matter cannot be taken lightly. We take the actions of these officers for granted because we do not see what they do. The individuals to whom I refer are not the gardaí we see patrolling our streets; they operate in very dangerous environments and do a good job in that regard.

The Garda Síochána recently intercepted €11 million worth of heroin. That was a major drug bust on the part of the force and everyone else involved. However, the interception of those drugs will only lead to a two-week gap in supply in specific areas. This highlights the enormity of the task we face in respect of combating drug abuse.

At a human level, one need only talk to primary and secondary school teachers in Dublin to discover what is happening. One teacher informed me that she is aware of a national school in which half of the 28 students in sixth class have lost a brother, sister or someone else to whom they were close as a result of the drugs trade. That is a stark reality and we must come to terms with it if we are ever to move forward. We should challenge ourselves and invite feedback from teachers in respect of how we should combat drug abuse because we do not have the answers. I accept, however, that we can put forward solutions.

An 18 year old youth was recently confronted by a garda who asked how he had ended up addicted to heroin, the devil's drug. The youth replied that his mother had injected him with it when he was 14 years of age. How do we even think about coming to terms with this matter and facing up to the challenges involved when we are talking about first, second and third generation drug addiction? The only way we will obtain answers is to continue to engage in debate and challenge ourselves in terms of how best to draw up ways to protect young people. We cannot give up hope and we must learn from our mistakes. The 18 year old to whom I refer stated that when he was first injected with heroin at 14 years of age, he got a buzz and an almighty adrenaline rush. As a heroin addict, however, he no longer gets that buzz and is merely trying to get by and feel normal on a day-to-day basis.

On the subject of resources, I will not even place on the public record the number of sniffer dogs available. However, I am aware it is minimal. I do not want to send out a signal that we cannot compete in terms of combating drug abuse. The number of sniffer dogs that are trained to detect heroin is also minimal. Gardaí will require additional sniffer dogs if they are to compete in the environment in which they are trying to compete. Will the Minister of State communicate that fact to the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform?

On the legal front, when someone is arrested on suspicion of dealing in heroin, be it a user or a supplier, a difficulty arises because such an individual can either swallow the small tablets of heroin or hide them in another way to which I will not refer on the public record and then deny access to his or her person to a doctor trying to extract the drug. Tougher measures should be introduced to facilitate doctors trying to extract heroin tablets from such individuals.

We live on an island and I live on the coast thereof. Anyone who lives in an area such as that in which I reside is aware that it is impossible to seal our coastline. Two weeks ago, the miraculous cure put forward by the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources was that if we get rid of all the drift net fishermen, salmon would be free to swim up our rivers to reach their spawning grounds. People in coastal communities live in the real world and are aware that poachers operate in a professional manner and use sub-aqua techniques to remove far more salmon from our rivers and coastal waters than drift net fishermen. I use that analogy because when one lives in a coastal community, one knows it is almost impossible to prevent the importation of drugs. The only way we can combat this problem — this epidemic — is through awareness, protecting and informing young people, building up the self esteem and self confidence of young people, working in an informal environment, working with youth workers and working in a protected environment where young people are not thrown out as fodder. As legislators, we are all responsible.

This is not a political debate. It is an issue on which both sides of the House are on the same message. We must continue to be on that message and we must challenge ourselves, open up the debate and move it forward. We need to provide information and protection for young people. We owe it to them because we have let down generations of people. There are first, second and third generation heroin addicts. It is our responsibility and duty to continue the debate.