Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I want to congratulate the Minister for bringing in this legislation so fast to fill a loophole. In particular, I want to acknowledge the work that must have been done in his Department by civil servants burning the midnight oil to write this legislation. It raises some concerns for me that no doubt there are people employed all over the country now looking for loopholes in Government orders to get people out of the various troubles in which they might find themselves.

I compliment the Minister and his colleague, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Reilly, who recently introduced plain packaging for cigarettes. Clearly, there is a determined effort to tackle the drugs problem. Like my colleague, Senator Wilson, I feel the time has come to do something more positive in the area of illegal drugs. I have been listening to task forces and all sorts of initiatives for as long as I can remember, yet the drug problem is increasing at a phenomenal rate. Perhaps it is time we had a Minister with specific responsibility for drug enforcement. I am sure the drug lords out there have no fear of any of us. They have plenty of money to be able to run to the courts. The more of us who speak in favour of what the Minister is doing, the better.