Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Anyone sitting with the girl I was with, or the others sitting around us who were really sick would have been heartbroken. At one point the queue had to be restarted because one of the substance abusers had run out of the place and a number of staff had to follow to bring her back in order that she could be fitted back into the queue. I cannot begin to describe the hurt felt by the people sitting around me. We really have to tackle the issue of substance abuse. There is not a family in the country who do not have somebody suffering from substance abuse. We have to tackle the problem. They are crowding emergency departments throughout the country. I have had the misfortune, owing to heart problems, to attend the emergency department at St. Vincent's University Hospital on several occasions and each time the place was full to the rafters. It is desperate.

I ask everyone in the House to join me in condemning those who are cutting down posters belonging to candidates running in local and national elections. The posters cost a lot of money and anyone who acts in such a way is committing a vicious act.