Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)

I join colleagues in calling for a debate on the issue of drug abuse. Last week we saw the reports of the inquest into the high profile death of a member of the media. That was a missed opportunity by RTE to highlight the fact that the use of illegal drugs such as cocaine by any person is unacceptable. Senator MacSharry pointed out that the use of drugs such as cocaine leads to deaths, and not just in Finglas and west Dublin. We know of one case some years ago where a tradesman going about his business was in the wrong place at the wrong time and was killed when a drugs lord was targeted and murdered. One should ask oneself whether the person whose inquest was held last week was responsible for that death.

I work sometimes with the Kerry addiction counselling services and Leona Cronin and visit schools around the county to speak about the issues of drug and alcohol addiction. However, the abuse of substances such as cocaine by high profile personalities seems acceptable because the national broadcaster has not come out clearly to state it is not acceptable. It prefers instead to leave the issue alone because it does not want to speak ill of the dead. He was described as a good man who had problems. However, the source of his problems has led to deaths all over the country. I was fortunate to have an opportunity to travel to Colombia with Trócaire. I visited a town where the father of two young girls had been kidnapped and killed with a chainsaw. His limbs had been removed one by one until he died.