Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and thank her for her very constructive comments yesterday. I thoroughly enjoyed her contributions and feel she gave a great insight into the situation within her own constituency and right across the country. Fianna Fáil welcomes the passage of this Bill, a Bill which has been expected for some time and was expedited in view of recent events. The key objective of the Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill is to amend the Schedule to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 by adding to it a number of substances to help law enforcement authorities deal more effectively with the illicit trades in those substances. The debate on this Bill was very constructive and informative and I commend Senator Ruane on her comments. She has great knowledge on this subject, having worked in the area for a number of years. It is time for us to re-evaluate our drugs strategy and to assess it to see what is working and what is not. It is clear that people fall into opiate abuse on a regular basis. We need to have a rational debate on drugs, how we fight them and how we help those who are addicted to them, and we also need to address the broader social issues that can lead people into the trap of addiction.

We need urgency in this area, with a full review of our programmes, community supports, medical supports and therapies available for drug addicts. On the criminal justice side we need to review the supports available to An Garda Síochána and other law enforcement officers of the State to combat the illegal drug trade. While we do not necessarily advocate the decriminalisation of drugs, Fianna Fáil's Dáil health spokesperson has previously questioned whether the criminalisation of all drugs has had the desired outcome. That is a debate we will continue to have and we will have to make a decision on it in the future.

We need to learn lessons and provide more health supports for drug addicts, as well as better access to the programmes that support them. I welcome the Minister's comments in this area yesterday. The fact that addiction can compel addicts into criminal activity has had the consequence that they are reluctant to present when they need medical or therapeutic support. We all know of a revolving door system where addicts get arrested, get processed, participate in rehabilitation programmes and then the cycle starts all over again. We need to break this cycle. The essential thing in any new strategy is that it be responsive to the needs and demands of society, including drug users.