Paddy Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Taoiseach. I want to congratulate the people involved in the narcotics find off the south-west coast. According to today's newspapers, the value of the seizure is up to €500 million. The European market for cocaine is somewhere in the region of €12 billion, which is massive, and people say there is little we can do. There is something we can do, which has to be done at a European level. We all know where the drugs are coming from; the majority of drugs are coming from South America. The EU should consider imposing sanctions on countries that are doing little to curtail the production and outflow of narcotics from their countries. It is obvious that they know what is going on and that they know where it is taking place within their borders. The Taoiseach should lead a campaign on this at European level, where it would have to be done. A €12 billion market is massive and it has huge repercussions on society. We have to look at this at a European level as there is something that can be done there.