Larry Butler (Fianna Fail)

I am pleased to have an opportunity to speak in this debate on drug and alcohol misuse. I welcome the co-operation of the Opposition parties as an all-party approach is more likely to lead to solutions.

RTE has highlighted the widespread use of cocaine. I thank the Minister of State for the high profile manner in which he has gone about explaining the situation on RTE and the various programmes on which he has appeared. I commend his approach. He did not get over-excited about the problems that have been exposed recently. The situation is disastrous for those families who have been affected by recent cocaine-induced deaths. I extend my sympathy to them. We must take on board that behind every statistic lies a family.

The Medical Bureau of Road Safety analysed blood and urine samples in 2005. Some 747 specimens were tested, of which 480 were positive and 262 were negative. This shows that there is a need for on-the-spot testing of this kind in conjunction with breathalysing.