Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú)

I thank the Minister of State for coming here and wish her the best of luck because it is not for the faint-hearted.

Between 2011 and 2023, 1,410 babies were born addicted to drugs in this country. This is a sad statistic. It shows how early addiction can start for some. Other statistics released to Aontú after parliamentary questions show that in the past ten years, there have been over 11,000 arrests for drugs offences across the counties of Cavan, Monaghan and Louth. The figures show that drug arrests peaked in my constituency in 2020 and have dropped off since then. However, I firmly believe that while arrests are down, drug use and drug dealing are on the increase. Drugs are being used by people of all ages, across all regions of the country and from all social classes. It has been completely normalised. Like other Senators, I reach the stage of paranoia sometimes when my children go on a night out. I am constantly warning them and talking to them to keep them on the straight and narrow to try to protect them. Young people who do not do drugs are made to feel like they are the weird ones by their peers. Drugs have been normalised to the same extent as alcohol in some places. We need to educate our youth on the horrific process of drug production and sale; the chain of crime, the torture and murders, and the lives ruined along the way to produce that bag of drugs people are offered on a night out.

I echo what other Senators said on the targeting of families of people who owe drug debts. In some cases, they are young people who have emigrated without paying their debts and their grandparents are being burgled as a means of recouping the debt. It is a horrific situation and it is getting out of control.

We have problems with the resale of prescription medication, such a Valium. It is worrying to think that something prescribed in good faith by a doctor is being recycled in this way.

I firmly believe that the odd shipment of drugs that gets caught is only the tip of the iceberg. The purchase of drugs online needs to be seriously addressed as well.

I am not sure if any country has cracked the drugs problem yet either through decriminalisation or otherwise. It just seems to be getting worse everywhere. Portugal had great success in the early days after it decriminalised drugs. However, the figures are starting to creep up again and there is a huge drugs issue in the country.

We need harsher sentences for those dealing drugs. It needs to be made a stand-alone offence to seek to recoup drugs debts from innocent relatives. Legalising drugs is not the answer. I hope we can debate this matter thoroughly in the House and review all of the international evidence for ourselves.