Kevin Humphreys (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I extend my best wishes to the Minister of State, with whom I had the honour to serve on Dublin City Council when she was Lord Mayor of the city. She will bring compassion to her position derived from her personal experience.

I ask the Minister of State to be cautious about unintended consequences during her period in office. We may wish we had a crystal ball, but all legislation has unintended consequences. One of the objectives of the amendment was to limit such consequences by allowing the accused to mount a defence. While I accept the Minister of State's good intentions and I am aware of her background and the part of the city she represents, unfortunately, the unintended consequence of this Bill may be to criminalise 16, 17, 18 or 20 year olds and have long-term impacts on their lives and careers. The amendments proposed to allow a defence to be mounted and enable the court, whether a judge or jury, to make a decision on the matter. This would ensure that young people who chose the wrong path at a certain stage in their lives and were found in possession of certain drugs for personal use would not experience long-term harm and find themselves unable to return to the straight and narrow, become fully participating citizens and pursue careers. I hope the Minister of State will review this matter in the autumn.

I, too, fully accept the Minister of State's bona fides and good intentions. She is an excellent choice for the position to which she has been appointed. However, she will need to consider the possibility that the Bill will have unintentional consequences because they are a feature of most legislation. Senators bring extensive experience to bear in these debates and Ministers should listen closely to what they have to say because they helped to significantly improve legislation during the previous Government. The Bill would have been improved if the Minister of State had accepted the amendments.