Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

The Chief Justice, Mr. John Murray, said recently that there was no minor form of drug dealing as far as the courts were concerned and that all suppliers were at risk of serious sentences irrespective of the type of drug or its value. When jailing drug dealers, he said the courts are entitled to take into account the impact of the offence on the local community and on society as a whole. The Chief Justice went on to say the drug problem had to be taken seriously and that it was not a matter of degrees of seriousness. I welcome these comments from the Chief Justice and I express the wish that the mandatory sentences, laid down in legislation, be acted upon on a far more frequent basis than at present.

The latest crime statistics highlight two interesting points about drugs and the criminal justice system. Arrests for possession of drugs for sale or supply has increased by 7.7% year on year but, looking at the third quarter to quarter figures, it is clear there was a big increase in arrests between 2005 and 2006, which begs the question as to whether gardaí are more efficient in making arrests or increased numbers of drug dealers are on the streets. I am inclined to support both options.

The Garda has made major strides in arresting the bigger fish between the third quarter of 2005 and the third quarter of 2006. This period saw a 62.5% increase in arrests for the cultivation, manufacture and importation of drugs. Cocaine related prosecutions accounted for 11% of total prosecutions, almost equalling those of heroin which accounted of 11.2% of the total.

A worrying finding of a 2004 Garda study, compared with a similar study conducted in 1997, relates to the apparent stabilisation of local drug markets over time and the reported easier availability of drugs. The 2004 study records an increase from 46% to 76% in the number of people stating they sourced their drugs from a local dealer. This has serious implications for local policing and other supply control initiatives. The recruitment of the promised extra gardaí by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform might be one way to counteract this trend. However, many other measures are required.

Drug use is usually assumed to be an urban phenomenon. However, when the size of population is taken into account, two areas outside Dublin are highlighted as having high relative rates of problem abuse, my constituency of Waterford and Carlow. Carlow has the highest rate of problem drug abuse in the country.

With regard to health implications, a report by J. Long earlier this year has found that there was a fall in the number of HIV cases among injecting drug users between 1994 and 1998. It was suggested this might be attributable to the introduction and expansion of harm reduction measures. However, this was contradicted by the sharp increase in the number of drug users testing positive for HIV in 1999 with 69 new cases while 2000 saw 83 new cases.

Drug abuse has no boundaries. It is alarming that the use of cocaine is now moving into new sectors and achieving a recreational Hollywood style appeal, particularly in middle class areas, although the stigma associated with treatment is preventing many of these users from seeking help. The Coolmine Therapeutic Community has said that while the practice of injecting opiates has become endemic in deprived urban areas, there has been a marked increase in cocaine use across a range of different user groups.

The risk of acquiring HIV and hepatitis C is associated with certain high dependency drug areas and may be linked to cocaine use. The results of the Long study highlight the emerging cocaine problem and the high risk practices associated with it. The findings are that current harm reduction methods are not robust enough to prevent the transmission of HIV among heroin users who also use cocaine. There is a clear need to ascertain which aspects of harm reduction are inefficient and to determine what changes of harm reduction services are required to prevent transmission. In other words, a coherent well structured approach must be put in place as a matter of urgency.

Fine Gael proposes the creation of a unified approach to drug and alcohol abuse. This would mean the creation of a single comprehensive national addiction strategy, to tackle both alcohol and illicit drug abuse. It would represent an acceptance that increasing numbers of young people are abusing both alcohol and drugs. The groundwork of implementing this strategy could be carried out by expanding the role, functions, manpower and resources available to the existing local and regional drugs task forces, many of which have significant expertise in tackling addiction.

We suggest, and if elected to Government will introduce, a structured health care plan for each recovering drug and-or alcohol abuser to assist in overcoming their addictions. Those on methadone maintenance would be subject to a six-monthly review by health care professionals, which would assess their progress and examine the feasibility of drug free treatment options. The latter would also mean expanding support services for recovering addicts to pursue drug free rehabilitation.

We will create a mentor system, where all drug and alcohol abusers who seek assistance, will have one health professional attached to their cases. This professional, whether youth worker, drug worker or social worker, would act as a point of contact for the drug-alcohol misuser and would inform drug misusers of all the services available to them.

We will increase support services, particularly counselling services, for those seeking treatment for cocaine abuse, in addition to increasing training for health care professionals to deal with the growing cocaine problem. We will expand the availability of primary health care services as part of the service currently provided by drug services, to include general health information, dental services, hepatitis vaccinations, HIV, hepatitis and TB testing and community care.

We will expand outreach services to specifically target hard-to-reach drug and alcohol abusers, such as mothers, the young and the homeless, with a concerted effort to get drug abusers to engage with the regular drug services. This will involve increasing both the number and resources available to the outreach service. We will also expand existing support services to the parents and families affected by drug misuse through the creation and expansion of family support network units to involve families and addicts. Such support services would also concentrate on issues such as family break up and relationship breakdown.

Furthermore, we will expand targeted outreach programmes, particularly drugs education, to vulnerable young people such as those who drop out of schools or are young offenders who are likely to miss out on drug education at school. The Minister and his party colleagues have consistently asked us what our policies are on a wide range of issues. I have outlined just some of our proposals in this area. I hope they will form part of any targeted action in the future, irrespective of who is in Government.