Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senators Ruane and Ó Ríordáin for bringing this Bill forward. It is correct to say that the war on drugs has not worked. It has turned into a war on poor people. It is a war on the sick. When one sees that we have the third highest overdose rate in Europe, it shows that our systems are failing in all respects. When one sees 679 people dying from overdoses, which is three times higher than those dying from road traffic accidents, one considers the amount of effort, energy and resources put into trying to reduce the amount of people who are speeding on our roads and how entire days are devoted to speed reduction -this took place only last Friday. One compares that with efforts to try to help those who are sick and are in addiction primarily because of the circumstances of their birth. It is disheartening to hear we are talking about a drug strategy from 2015 and here we are two years later, still awaiting progress.

As for progress for this issue, in getting the detail right on Committee Stage and ensuring that it is brought across the line, Members who have tried to introduce Private Members' Bills and who are involved in legislation will be aware it requires relentless effort, despite the idea that we are all in favour of the substance of the debate. As the former Minister of State in charge of this strategy who is seconding this proposal will know, it is extremely difficult to go from the policy to getting the legislation across the line. Then, more importantly, there is the question of securing the resources that will make the difference, because legislation without resources is of no use.

When I say it is a war on poor people, we all know that in the case of a family with a son or daughter who is in addiction and is going through the courts, that son or daughter will end up in jail if the family is poor but will not if the family is rich. The statistics show it. The appeal is made to the judge that they are from a good family. What does that mean? Does it mean that a judge should treat people equally? Obviously not. They treat the rich better than the poor because they are from a "good family". The justice system is supposed to be blind and give justice equally and therefore, it should treat the poor the same as it does the rich. The son or daughter of the rich person gets off because the family is respectable, whatever that is meant to mean.

I reflect upon the issue of addiction because I remember meeting Tony Paget who was Ireland's person of the year in 2002. Tony jumped into the River Liffey to save a bus driver who had driven off the road. As person of the year, he was homeless. He ended up getting the award, with the tuxedo, and had one night in the hotel before he was kicked out onto the street. He was Ireland's person of the year in 2002. It is an amazing way to treat such a citizen. Tony ended up back on the street for months but that was addiction. He was a sick person, not a criminal. He had plenty of time in court but if Tony had been from a respectable family, he would never have seen the inside of a prison.

The Bill, as we know, has all the research done. No one is a better expert than the Senator herself, and the person who is seconding it who knows the Department inside out. The problem is in our new politics, the system, the officials and the Department are not able to contend with the idea that someone is a better expert than are they themselves. The Committee Stage to come is where we as legislators must get used to the idea that we can no longer come in, get our Second Stage passed and then say "wasn't that a great day in court". People outside will think we have the Bill passe, but we know how far it still has to go. It will require this Dáil to remain and for the Senator to remain in her seat, whether there is an election or not - because legislation can jump into the next sitting - but I know the Senator to be relentless in her life and she has proven that in politics too. Persistence is required because the change it will make in decriminalising those who are found in possession now and in generations to come is very important. While we are obviously disappointed with the delay, it is not defeat. It will require the relentless persistence of the Senator and we hope to support all those proposals in the nuts and bolts that are required on Committee Stage to make sure that when those proposals come back and are seen to be ineffective, as the Senators will be aware, and do not do the job in hand and do not ultimately help sick people, then explaining that to us and to all those involved will be important. It will be done because it is the right thing to do but it will require persistence and relentless pursuit of what is a just cause.