Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Labour) | Oireachtas source

Certain comments were read out during the debate and attributed to me when I was Minister of State with responsibility for the national drugs strategy. I refer specifically to remarks I made in a speech in London. I advise the Minister of State that it may be useful not to use speeches that have been written for her. In my previous role as Minister of State, I rarely read out a speech that had been written for me. The tone of some of the comments made by the Minister of State, which clearly had been written for her, could have been a little more generous.

I thank Senators, including Independents, Sinn Féin and Green Party speakers, for the support they have shown me and Senator Lynn Ruane. Senator Ruane and I have tried to change drug policy to ensure it can effect change rather than reinforce the mistakes of the past. I was disappointed by the conservative consensus reached between the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael parties, which consistently regurgitated an old drugs policy that has been seen to fail. I appeal to Senators from across the House who succeeded in speaking with one voice on a number of issues not to engage in a knee-jerk reaction to the drugs issue based on what they believe most people will respond favourably towards.

This debate has been another missed opportunity. By criminalising people for having an addiction, we will ensure they have fewer rights than others. I wish the 10,000 people in the State who are in methadone maintenance programmes and the 20,000 people who are suffering from heroin addiction were protesting on the streets outside Leinster House. Perhaps if we had the numbers protesting outside that protested on other issues, Members would think differently about the rights and opportunities of people with addictions and the types of lives such persons are entitled to lead.

I accept the Minister of State's bona fides and I know she is passionate about this issue. She gave the House a commitment to return to the issue of medically supervised injecting centres in the autumn. She and other speakers referred to the Portuguese model. If she is serious about this issue, she should adopt this model in the autumn. It was a mistake on her part to restate the position that the criminalisation of addiction is the correct approach.

I reiterate that the comments the Minister of State attributed to me were taken from a speech that was written on my behalf but which I did not use. I advise her to take her own counsel in deciding whether to use speeches that have been written for her because people will put words she should not use into her mouth. Her beliefs, background and sense of social justice will speak volumes to people who are hanging on every word she says. Those who are suffering from addiction and their families need much more from this Chamber than we have provided today.