Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise the issue of the mid-term review of the national drugs strategy, NDS. There are four community voluntary networks and each of them is designated as a core constituent of the NDS. They are all due to be removed from the oversight committee. I think this is one part of what has been, for a number of years, an attempt to dismantle the community voice, dissent, agency and advocacy from all structures within that Department. We say that there is no rationale to it but I feel having listened to people on the ground and in the community that this feels like people are being silenced and a pushing out of community involvement in decision-making. It feels like there has been a concerted effort for many years, and one which seems to have been ramped up very recently, to pull decision-making back so centrally that people are not being empowered to make decisions within their own communities in terms of meeting their own needs.

The aim of removing any kind of independent, questioning or dissenting voice within the community is extremely worrying. That is especially so in a democracy where collective decision-making and input is a key component of who we are and what we do. For me, as someone who comes from the community sector and still works very much in the community sector, I feel that we are the experts. We bear the brunt. We carry the history. We know the knowledge. We know what is needed. We know what basic needs are not being met. We feel the trauma. We bury our loved ones. We respond to the overdoses. However, every single time that we look to involve ourselves in the key structures we are blocked at every move. That is so wrong and worrying. To be honest, it feels that in the past two Governments we have had Ministers who stood by and watched civil servants call all the shots that allowed this to happen. I do not think that is okay. If the civil servants want to run for politics to make those decisions then they should. We need to be stronger, as Ministers, to push back, lead from the front and not be told what happens and how things will happen. The community voice has been diluted so badly that people feel very disempowered and disengaged within their communities. The more one disengages communities the worse the situation will get.

We must be honest about this matter. For many years I have made the effort to be diplomatic and not insult people but now I must set diplomacy aside to save lives and communities. From now on we need to be very clear and honest about what is happening in the drugs sectors and in addiction. I ask the Deputy Leader to schedule a debate on the mid-term review over the coming weeks or as soon as possible.

I would like to welcome my colleagues to Tallaght tonight wearing their football boots and shin guards. When Senator Ó Ríordáin collected the jerseys for us from the FAI one of its officials asked how big our team was and he replied that they are grown adults and we have two years of Covid. The FAI official said, "No, how big?" I do not know whether the FAI has given us jerseys that are suitable for children and I hope that the Senators are all ready to squeeze into some junior jerseys and run around the pitch in Tallaght. Our team will play against a team representing an addiction and counselling service that works with men to help them find new alternatives to how they live life and helps them to flourish. I will finish on that good note and look forward to welcoming the Leader as well to Tallaght this evening.