Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)

As I understand it, the Cathaoirleach will not be in the House tomorrow and as it will be the final day of the current Seanad I wish to pay tribute to his stewardship during his 30 years as a Member of the Seanad. He has given tremendous service to his country.

Like the Cathaoirleach, I am bowing out on this occasion. I wish him well in his retirement. I know he will remain as active as always in other circles well known to everybody. The Cathaoirleach has been a great ambassador for this country and west Limerick and deserved his place in the sun as Cathaoirleach of the Seanad during the past five years. I believe everyone in this House, regardless of political affiliation, regards him as having been extremely fair in his position. As a west Limerick man, I respect and appreciate his fair-mindedness.

I take this opportunity, before coming to a brief matter on the Order of Business, to pay tribute to those Senators who were successful in their election to the other House. I wish my colleagues on both sides who are contesting the current Seanad campaign every success. I hope many of them will rejoin the Seanad and form the seed corn for this House during the next five years.

I wish now to deal with a pertinent issue. The issue of drugs has been raised in this House on many occasions. Many Members spoke during such debates of the drug-like vice gripping Ireland particularly in terms of cocaine, a drug which many people consider to be a respectable one. Many segments of our community have been gripped by this drug. Everybody's mind is now focused on the problem given developments off our coast during the past few days. A tonne of cocaine was washed up off the coast of Cork following an unsuccessful landing. Ireland is widely perceived as a gateway for drugs to the UK and the continent. Those interested in experiencing the significant scale of what is actually happening in this country in terms of cocaine and other drugs, need only note the size of that shipment which would have resulted in a great deal of hardship for many users. I wish the Minister dealing with the area of drugs the best of luck because drugs are becoming part of our culture and they are endemic in every community. It will be a significant challenge to root out this prevailing epidemic.