Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Senator Ó Ríordáin should not make it all about him. Sometimes it is not all about him. Before Senator Ó Ríordáin jumps in, I was going to say that as Minister of State, he did a significant amount of work of which I was supportive but there are issues around cannabis that we cannot ignore. The views of a body of opinion were published yesterday and there were letters to the newspapers, which need to be part of a wider debate that I am happy to have. In fairness to the Minister of State, Deputy Catherine Byrne, the report has not yet gone to Cabinet. I am told that there is a need for cross-departmental review of and contribution to the report. It is a complex issue but we need an informed debate on the matter and I look forward to the Upper House having that debate in due course. I will not shy away from it. Senator Ó Ríordáin is right. The pathway to recovery is one we need to examine. As somebody who has been involved with a number of organisations in Cork, I know that it is one we need to examine further.

Senator Humphreys proposed an amendment to the Order of Business that I cannot accept.Senator Mulherin raised the issue of clarification regarding Rehab, as did Senator Murnane O'Connor. It is important that we provide certainty and continuity to the users of Rehab. That is why there have been talks going on between the Minister and the service provider, Rehab, today and prior to today. I hope that a resolution can be found to the talks because it is an important service. I will leave it at that.

With Senator Murnane O'Connor's permission, I will rejig the Senator's comment to wish all candidates in the local elections every success on Friday.