Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I bow to some extent to Senator Colm Burke’s knowledge of the law. After all, he is a solicitor, but I do not accept that the amendments, which are very good, cannot be included by way of a further amendment by the Government if it is considered the measures are not watertight. I do not like the approach whereby the issue is pushed further out and must wait for another round of legislation. We have listened to that approach for too long.

When people talk about the drug problem sometimes the perception is that it is confined to cities, but I come from a rural area and in my town of Carrick-on-Suir, in Clonmel, Waterford, Cahir and Cashel the situation is every bit as bad. The same population is not affected but it is every bit as bad on a pro ratabasis and that fact is sometimes forgotten.

I was a member of the first drugs task force that was set up in the south east. I represented Tipperary County Council. Like other Senators said, we adopted in good faith a set of policies that we thought would tackle the issue. We did not know enough about the problem at the time as it was a developing one, especially in rural areas. It is a fact that can be verified by the Minister of State or anyone else, that the worst location for the trafficking of drugs in the south east is a little village where I worked myself in a resource centre for many years called Glengoole. The Garda will confirm that its system shows the worst amount of trafficking and exchanges of drugs happened in that village. People have probably never heard of this little village outside Thurles with a population of approximately 300 people, but for some reason there is a great deal of drug activity there. Drug trafficking is happening all around us in rural areas and in cities.

We are not addressing the issue. We have made many attempts to do so but we have failed. I do not apportion blame to anybody in this room in the Government or anywhere else. Society has failed. We have failed because initially we did not realise the level and depth of the problem. I have seen young people in my town. One in particular – I will not go into the details – is an outstanding sportsman who represented his country and he was destroyed by drugs. Thanks be to God he got his life back together and he is back in society. He is cured for the moment but nobody knows whether the cure will be long term.

Yesterday I walked to Leinster House in the rain at 9 a.m. from where I was staying. The first person I saw on the street was a young man drinking a can of cider. The next person I saw was a young man shooting up. That is what is happening on the streets of this city at 9 o'clock in the morning. Anybody can see that any morning if they walk in through the city. It does not matter which part of the city. Some people try to categorise the situation and to put it in a box. We cannot allow that to continue. The amendments that have been tabled by both Senators are aimed at trying to help people who are afflicted by drugs.

Senator Colm Burke, perhaps in discussion with the Minister of State, outlined that the Bill cannot deal with the amendments. Any Bill can deal with any amendment if the will is there. If the Government has the will to change the amendment to take into account what the legal mind of Senator Colm Burke, whom I fully respect, is saying, then that can be done. I urge the Minister of State even at this late stage to have another think about the amendments, even if we have to defer debate on the Bill until next week, because by the time we get another chance to do this and go through the rigmarole of putting together new legislation it could be another year. One could ask how many more lives will be lost or ruined going into courts. I refer to harmless people who are caught up in drugs who are sent to prison. A speaker yesterday referred to a young man who wanted to join the Army who could not join if he had a criminal record. I urge the Minister of State to rethink her decision. If, as indicated by her colleague, Senator Colm Burke, she will not accept the amendments, she should hold back, take a deep breath and postpone any decision until next week.