Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. I echo what Senator Conway said about the Minister of State. I have always found her to be a decent person who is empathetic and supportive on this issue. She has always taken a responsible lead against sometimes stiff opposition.

Not all drug users are addicts. We need to keep remembering that. In every walk of life, there is misuse of drugs and of drink. Alcohol is a terrible drug and a scourge on our society, as are drugs, and prescribed and non-prescribed medication, which is an issue that arises repeatedly. When gardaí stop people for drug issues, they have sometimes taken prescribed or non-prescribed drugs that impair their driving. It tells us about the dependency on drugs, whether prescribed or not, and I include alcohol in that regard. We all know people, including friends, colleagues or politicians, dare I say it, and certainly businesspeople who I know, regularly use cocaine and other hard drugs. That is the reality and we are fooling ourselves if we suggest anything else, that a marginalised or disadvantaged group is somehow more prolific in the use of drugs. People with a disadvantage do not necessarily have the same supports early on in life and that feeds into the issue. This crosses all spectrums and strata of society, life, our communities and our families. We must always be conscious of that. It is not an issue which only affects someone unknown to us. It affects our families, friends and loved ones that we deal with daily. When one tries to understand that and talks about the issue in the context of a brother, sister or family member, one takes a different perspective on it. I like to apply that perspective to this issue.

This is a health issue and we need to treat it as such by implementing the necessary supports. We should do so locally. I was involved in Dún Laoghaire for many years as a county councillor. There was a constant barrage of criticism suggesting that people were coming in from outside the area. In an ideal world, we would have local treatment, supports and therapies across all of our community. We do not have that ideal situation at present. I thank the Minister of State. I thank Fianna Fáil for raising the issue. Let us keep it simple. This affects all of our lives. We need to be fair, compassionate and responsive to the needs of people who are reliant. Some use recreational drugs and get away with it since it does not seem to affect them. It impacts people in different ways. It is important that we give all the support that we can, and that we humanise and take away the mystique from around this, because it is very near us in our work and our life.

This motion calls for the Government to act urgently to restore confidence in the national drugs strategy. It calls on the Taoiseach to appoint a senior representative from his Department to the national oversight committee on the drugs strategy. It refers to funding and supports in place and to strengthening criminal law against the use of children in drug trafficking. Of course we do not want children involved in drug trafficking, as we do not want children involved in prostitution, begging on the streets, or in many other things. There is obviously no place for children in any of that. I want to hear about the supports. Unless we educate, help and assist people in their communities, we will go nowhere. I am interested in hearing from the Minister of State how she can better resource the work that she is doing. Can she give us any feedback on the positive engagement that she is getting from communities?

This is a matter of leadership. It is a matter of all Members' party colleagues and Ministers, county councillors, neighbours and friends engaging. We can come in here, bellyache and talk about all the shortcomings. If we feed into negatives about this issue in our communities, then we are failing our communities, citizens, family and friends. The challenge for all of us is not to point at anyone, but to collectively take that responsibility, show compassion and concern, and to give all of the supports needed on a difficult journey of rehabilitation that will have many setbacks. We must try and try again. It is an ongoing issue but we must put the supports in place and stop pointing the finger. We must support the Minister of State and her strategy to bring about change.