Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Frankie Feighan, for his engagement yesterday. I am the Chair of the Oireachtas cross-party group on drug policy reform, which I set up during my previous Seanad term after spending some time in Westminster looking at its very active and effective cross-party group on drug policy reform. We met with the Minister of State and his officials yesterday and it was a good engagement. There is only so much we can highlight in the Chamber during Commencement matters. The Minister of State and his officials spent two hours with us yesterday, covering everything from Naloxone to Suboxone to the ageing population using drug services. We now have an ageing population of people who were on heroin in the 1970s and who still have addiction issues in some cases. Their needs are changing, including issues such as access to buildings or what they require as older people affected by drug use or abuse. It was a very positive engagement. I encourage more engagement with cross-party groups outside the Chamber so that everybody has a fair chance to air a broad range of issues.

I also acknowledge that 16-year-olds voted for the first time in Scotland last Thursday. There are no exit polls indicating how many 16-year-olds voted, but all the articles we read about youth employment indicated a big difference was seen in the kind of policies put forward. The party manifestos had really geared towards the idea of youth politics. That is what happens when we encourage different cohorts to get involved in the political process. We see the agenda of parties change to meet the needs of younger people, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, when young people lost out on significant generational opportunities and life-shaping parts of their lives, including missing out on all that is involved in attending college or school. I hope we can look to Scotland and move positively in the same direction over the coming year.