Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I echo the comments of Senator Ruane regarding the debate on the decriminalisation of drug use. Notwithstanding the emotion Senator Lawless has about those who died at the roadside in Ireland 150 years ago - and while I agree with his sentiments - there are people dying at the roadside throughout Ireland and in its capital city every day as a result of drug overdoses. We seem to have a romantic view of what happened 150 years ago yet we have a victim-blaming attitude to those who die in toilets, parks, stairwells of flat complexes and alleyways as a result of overdoses. We have the third highest overdose rate in Europe. The discussion on decriminalisation, which is at a sensitive point, purely aims to help somebody who has an addiction, not through the criminal justice system but through the health system. It is just as radical as that.

There was a disgraceful letter in The Irish Timesyesterday from 20 or more GPs who feel it falls upon them to derail the humanity of what we are trying to achieve. To suggest that the move towards decriminalisation is a Trojan horse for anything but keeping people alive is outrageous. As Senator Ruane indicated, it is beyond time for the debate on this matter to take place. We are willing to work with the Government on the basis of the report, which may or may not already have been heavily leaked, if what comes out of it provides a basis upon which we can work. To suggest that the decriminalisation argument is somehow trying to achieve something else is absolutely insulting to all of us who do not believe that people who are sick or who have addictions belong before the courts; they do not. Someone who is sick, who is in need of medical help and who has an addiction does not belong in a courtroom, a prison or a Garda cell. They should not be interacting with the criminal justice system. Such a person needs a counsellor, a nurse, a doctor and a path to recovery. That is the basis for decriminalisation. It is not decriminalisation of the substances but of the person. If this issue was taken seriously, we would have a lot fewer people dying on our streets as a result of what is a real and contemporaneous issue.