John Gilroy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber. I am very glad to be able to stand here today to support the legislation. I am also glad to see the Department has pre-empted what might have come from yesterday's judgment and shown prescience in constructing the Bill at such short notice.

While a debate on national drug policy and how we might confront the illicit drug trade is a very important one for us to have, today's Bill is very specific in its application with regard to repairing the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977. I got into considerable trouble in the Chamber last week when I suggested during a debate that Members might confine themselves to dealing with the legislation that was actually in front of them rather than to go off on tangents to talk about things that might not have been immediately relevant. As legislators, we are bound to do so. Mr. Justice Hogan's ruling yesterday points to the importance of legislators confining themselves to what is actually before them for discussion and focusing entirely on the legislative proposals with which they are dealing. It is also important to note that Mr. Justice Hogan points to the massive interconnectivity between different Acts, citing the 1939 Act, the case of the quaintly named Pigs Marketing Board and the application of the Cityview Press test to legislation. Who would have thought when Deputy Joan Collins was taking her challenge to the Supreme Court over the Government's authority to recapitalise the banks that her case would be cited to undermine the provisions of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977? However, we find exactly that as a consideration in Mr. Justice Hogan's ruling.

I do not want to take up much of the Seanad's time today other than to say "Well done, Minister" on moving so promptly to tidy up and reconstruct this important legislative and public policy area.