Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and congratulate her on her appointment to what I consider a very important role.

We all know that drugs have caused huge problems in every town, village and street in this country. When I was in college it used to be, to a large extent, a problem in urban areas but sadly now it is a problem throughout the entire country. In the last Oireachtas and the one prior to that I was a member of the Oireachtas joint committee on justice. At that time, the drugs issue was considered a justice issue. A very comprehensive body of work was done by the previous Oireachtas committee, led by Deputy David Stanton. As part of that engagement, we spoke to many stakeholders, including victims of drug-related crime, people with addiction problems and people who had recovered from addiction problems. We travelled to Portugal to see the approach there which was health-led.

The key recommendation of the body of work was that there should be a national discussion on how we can engage with this issue and come up with solutions. Essentially, it should really be more a health-based approach than a justice-based one, particularly for first offenders. It is shocking to think that somebody caught in possession of cannabis while in college would not be able to go to the United States a few years later because he or she had a conviction for possession of soft drugs.

Society is now engaging in a discussion that is more health-based than justice-based. However, we need a combination of both. We see the issues around organised crime. They are all drug- and money-related. I note the recent comments by the Minister for Justice, Deputy Harris, about the fact that young and not-so-young professionals using recreational drugs at weekends are fuelling organised crime. People probably do not want to hear that but it is the truth. Every time an illegal substance like that is bought it is funding organised crime. There are communities throughout this country that have been completely torn apart as a result of organised crime. The national discussion recommended by the justice committee a number of years ago is now happening and it is happening in a structured way. It is happening with the creation of a citizens' assembly.None of us here should try to pre-empt the recommendations of the citizens' assembly. Naturally, we all have our own views and opinions but this is a structured way of engaging with a sample of the citizens of this country who will sit down, go through the pros and cons and make recommendations. My sincere hope is that the recommendations will be engaged with by the Government, taken seriously. and acted upon. We just have to wait. We must allow the citizens to do their work and have their engagement. I wish them well. When the recommendations are published, we can have a real debate and engagement on how we can go about improving the lives of victims and people in communities. Hopefully we will get on top of what is gripping a whole generation of our young people. That work is critical. I have no doubt that the citizens' assembly, under its chairperson, will do a very good job.

It is my view, and has been my view for some time, that this should have been this Government's first citizens' assembly. For me, it is the most important one, but better late than not happening at all. Again, I commend the Minister of State and wish her well in what is an extremely important job. I also wish the citizens' assembly well in its engagements.