Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail)

I join with the tributes paid to the Minister of State, Deputy Pat Carey. His performance on "The Late Late Show" was a watershed in the changing of attitudes to drug abuse. He could easily have succumbed to the flippancy of the occasion, striking a deadly blow for the national drugs strategy in the process. Instead, he adopted a measured approach of both horror and hope. Both words must be kept in mind in this debate.

After the recent terrible tragedies caused by drug abuse, the programme indicated the difficulties in fighting it. There is a flippant approach and cultural attitude from celebrities and others on radio, television and columns in particular newspapers that forget how serious is the situation. The reason we have an alcohol-abuse epidemic is because we did not recognise or admit to it being an evolving crisis. When a survey shows that 70% of young people have used alcohol, it is a serious situation. That is the beginning for more levels of abuse.

Ten years ago, I would have been uncomfortable raising alcohol abuse in the Seanad because it was not fashionable. When Senator Mary M. White earlier praised the Cathaoirleach and me for not taking alcohol, I felt we were being outed. At least, however, there is a changing attitude. I never felt when I wore my pioneer pin that I was telling anyone else what they should do. I was very often the butt of jokes for wearing it. Members will recall comedians using alcoholics as a subject but they never stopped to think of the results of alcoholism. If they encountered alcoholics on the side of the street, experienced broken homes and the violence and depression that went with this, they would not make jokes about it, no more than one would make fun of somebody with a stutter. It is not politically correct. There is change coming in that regard but not quickly enough. We need to change attitudes.

I have heard all the statistics, read the strategies and know how much money has been provided but they are not the issue. The small steps taken in the Seanad in the past week indicate that this is a crisis. I laud the Leader for setting up a sub-committee of Senators and the political parties of every hue who have agreed to tabling this motion. If we do not take these first steps we will not succeed.

When I spoke recently on the Order of Business I did not accuse anyone of being soft on drugs but I questioned arguments being put forward that we could somehow impose on the rights of an individual by overreacting to this crisis. An ordered society will always require constraints on the rights of an individual: one cannot park one's car where one likes, one must give a portion of one's salary to the Government, one cannot drink and drive. They are constraints. Why do we think we are imposing on the rights of the individual by trying to put an end to the terrible torture being inflicted on some people? There are old people who are terrified because they are the victims of drug related crimes, people in some communities feel completely under siege, some parents are at their wits' end because the children whom they have brought up well, with a particular ethos, have been gathered into the net of drug abuse. That is what we must consider.

We were asked today to have a rational debate as if we are dealing with a rational issue. We are dealing with irrationality. Every time we soften our language we send out the wrong message again. Zero tolerance is the only acceptable approach to drug abuse. If the number of young people who have died recently from drug abuse had died as a result of violence, there would be an outcry but we seem to be immune to this problem. If an invader attacked us the country would unite to protect its sovereignty, ethos and quality of life. That is what we face. This is an emergency. When the State was under siege the Government called representatives of the media into private session and asked them to demonstrate a sense of responsibility. The media does not show this level of responsibility now. The Minister of State has the stature to talk to the media and ask it to come into partnership to tackle this problem.

I recall the murder of Veronica Guerin, ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam, and the outrage felt when civilised society was confronted in such a dastardly manner by criminality. We were able then to take strong action. We need the same reaction now. Zero tolerance must be the engine that will drive any strategy we devise.

Responsibility is shared by all those who benefit from our community and it begins in the home. We have reached a point almost where one cannot discipline children or say a word to them in school because the parents will tackle the teachers. One cannot speak about this in public because one will be regarded as not politically correct. We must get back to basics. Parents must demonstrate parental control. Schools have a role but we often expect them to do the work of the home as well.

Society must focus on the measures required. People always have information and they should provide it. Communities should not allow themselves to be intimidated. We should not take a soft approach to drug taking or to those who make money out of it. Nobody could have anticipated the type of gang related deaths occurring now, whereby if someone has withheld money a person can shoot him or her in the head. I am delighted that the Minister of State has put down a marker, and under his leadership we can make progress.