Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support the Minister of State in bringing forward the Bill and I believe the amendments will cause complications in the legal process in terms of prosecuting pushers. The Minister of State has taken advice and, as I understand it, the Government will not be accepting the amendments as they are drafted.

In fairness, the Minister of State outlined yesterday that there is a proposal to introduce comprehensive legislation on the matter and we must set up the structures to provide for that. All the contributions have been very constructive but we must ensure that what was proposed is acted on, and we must bring forward comprehensive legislation to deal with what is set out in the amendments. However, I do not believe we can accommodate it in this Bill. What is proposed must be properly planned out and carefully put in place so that legal technicalities are not being used in the courts in order to get pushers off, as they are the very people we aim to target in bringing forward the Bill. The Minister of State has set out her position, and will do so again, on the reason the Government will not support the amendments this evening.