Seanad debates
Tuesday, 19 February 2019
Nithe i dtosach suíonna - Commencement Matters
Drug Treatment Programmes Policy
2:30 pm
Lynn Ruane (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for being here. I raise the issue of drug policy reform and the progress of the work of the Department of Health working group examining alternative approaches to the criminalisation of drugs possession. As she is aware, this is an issue I have a keen interest in and I have been following closely the progress of the Department working group. The decriminalisation of drugs for personal use is a necessity in modernising our antiquated laws which unfairly and without an evidence base criminalise drug use and addiction.
The international evidence is clear and overwhelmingly supportive of decriminalisation as a harm reduction measure and one that would allow for a shift to a health-led approach where drug treatment, education and community engagement would be central rather than harsh criminal penalties.My first Seanad Private Members' Bill, the Controlled Drugs and Harm Reduction Bill 2017, would have allowed for a Portuguese-style model for the decriminalisation of drugs possession for personal use and the creation of a drug dissuasion service to administer and case-manage those found in possession of drugs, whereby appropriate health-led interventions could be made instead of sending people through the court and prison systems.
As the Minister of State will remember, I agreed with her and the Government to adjourn the debate on the Bill and suspend its progression through the Oireachtas to allow for the working group to conduct its work. I thank her for the opportunity to present my Bill to the working group. I hope it was of use in its deliberations.
I was delighted to see the extraordinary amount of engagement through the public consultation process. Over 20,000 submissions were received. I understand this is the Department's record. It clearly shows the public support and appetite for substantive change. At every point, I have tried to be constructive and supportive of the working group and of Deputy Catherine Byrne in her role as Minister of State responsible for the drugs strategy.
I held my Bill back because I believed there was openness and willingness to assess the failings of our current drug laws, genuinely consider evidence internationally and move to recommend real and substantive change. The Minister of State can imagine my concern, therefore, when I read in the Irish Examinera few weeks back that the group is preparing to reject recommending decriminalisation and instead recommends some sort of diversion scheme - a system in which we would maintain the criminalisation of addiction and tell people we are going to put their stigmatisation and shaming before meeting their needs and recovery. It is just not good enough.
As a State, we cannot continue to label addiction as offending behaviour and hold criminal penalties over users' heads as a way to keep them in line. It may be the thinking of the Department and working group but it is not supported by evidence, international experience or the extraordinary support for decriminalisation the Department would have noted in the public consultation. If the reports in the newspaper article are true, the Government will have ignored the evidence and the public in opting for this path.
Could the Minister of State confirm whether the reports are untrue and whether the working group is still considering full decriminalisation? Can she confirm that she will be publishing the submissions received in the consultation, as was done for the Citizens' Assembly, so we can all know of the public support for decriminalisation or the model the Government is putting forward? Can she confirm that any proposals from the group will be fully cited in extensive detail, with the international evidence supporting the policy and evidence base for their effectiveness? I look forward to the Minister of State's response.
Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for her compassion and passion in dealing with this matter. I thank her for the time she put in when she came to see us about her Bill. I asked her to hold off until we put the group together. We have done so. I thank the over 20,000 people who emailed their views on the matter.
I appreciate very much the Senator's special interest in this issue. She introduced a Private Members' Bill in 2017. We share the same desire to make positive changes in this area. In November 2017, I established a working group to consider the approach in other jurisdictions to the possession of drugs for personal use. The group was set up to examine alternative responses for simple possession and will make recommendations on policy options to me and my colleagues in government, including the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, and the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan.
The group is chaired by a retired judge, Mr. Garrett Sheehan, and consists of representatives from the Department of justice, the criminal justice system, the Department of Health, the HSE and the HRB. There are also two service users as well as academic experts. The work programme of the working group has consisted of meetings with experts from other countries, commissioning research on other jurisdictions and undertaking a public consultation. I understand the group met Senator Ruane, who explained to it the background and context to her Private Members' Bill.
I have been informed there have been 14 meetings of the working group to date. To inform its deliberations, wide-ranging public consultation was undertaken by the Department of Health, consisting of an online questionnaire, focus groups and an open policy debate. The online questionnaire received a response from over 20,000 people, which far exceeds the response in any consultation previously undertaken by the Department. Two focus groups were held, with a total of 15 people who had been prosecuted for the possession of illegal drugs for personal use. An open policy debate was attended by 17 representatives of stakeholder organisations. The participants explored how an alternative health-led approach should operate in practice.The working group commissioned a group of internationally renowned researchers to conduct a review of the approaches and experiences in nine other jurisdictions with respect to the possession of drugs for personal use. In light of the large volume of work undertaken and the associated amount of information to be considered by the working group, the chair requested an extension to the original timeframe. On 19 December 2018, I granted an extension of three months so that the group could complete the report and ensure it addresses all of the terms of reference. I met the chair of the group in January and he updated me on progress. He advised me that the working group is drafting the final report and is on track to submit it by the end of quarter 1 of 2019.
Lynn Ruane (Independent)
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It goes without saying that a significant amount of work has gone into this. The majority of NGOs, community groups and voluntary groups that support decriminalisation have welcomed the level of consultation and the role that the Department has played, as have I. We were concerned by the report in the Irish Examiner, which pre-empts the outcome of the as yet unpublished working group report. Is the newspaper report accurate? Can we expect a diversion programme to be introduced under which someone caught once with drugs will be expected in that moment to be able to grasp recovery? Relapse is such an everyday part of drug use. A system under which people would not face court the first time they are caught in possession of drugs would still label people as criminals and is not a health-led approach. Is the report in the Irish Examineraccurate?
It was useful that all the submissions to the Citizens' Assembly process were made public. It would also be useful if everybody who has a stake in this debate could see the information supporting the policy decision of the working group. The Minister of State spoke of internationally renowned researchers. Will the international evidence used to support the working group's recommendations be cited in the report in order that we can see it when the report is published?
Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I will not pre-empt what is in the report because I do not know what is in it. I have not asked to be kept informed as the group has proceeded with its work in recent weeks and months. Only when the report crosses my desk will I know the full extent of what is being recommended by the working group. Newspapers can write anything they like. I will have to consult officials in the Department on the online assessment as I am not sure whether we would be in a position to publish the emails received given that they are private correspondence.
Lynn Ruane (Independent)
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They can be anonymised.
Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I will have to come back to the Senator on that.
As I indicated, work was done by internationally renowned researchers and we have looked at other jurisdictions. Until the report is on my desk, I cannot speculate on its contents to the Senator or anybody else, including newspaper reporters who telephone me. Let the working group finish the work it has started and come back with a report. If I am not happy with the report, I am sure many Senators will not be happy with it either. Only then will we be able to work on the recommendations.
I visit young people in services and communities, many of whom the Senator knows, who find themselves caught up in addiction and criminal activity and end up at a young age with a criminal record which can alter their lives for ever. They cannot go back into education, go abroad on holiday or even get housing. We need to be compassionate, particularly towards young people who get involved in criminal activities and find that they have a lifelong mark against them that is very difficult to shake off.
I hope the working group report will provide for flexibility and compassion and, above all, a health-led change to our approach to young people who are caught up in drug addiction and, unfortunately, criminal activities around that. Young people of 15 and 16 years are being targeted daily. This morning, on a visit to the Blanchardstown task force, I was informed that children as young as 12 and 14 years are smoking weed.This is something we must take on board. It is not only in poorer areas but across every constituency and part of the country. We need to recognise that addiction is a health issue and not stigmatise people because of it.
I apologise to Senator Ruane that I have nothing to add other than the judge and the working group were given a job to do, and out of respect to what they are doing, we should wait and ignore whatever is in the newspaper until we get the facts.
Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State will keep in touch on this anyway.
Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I certainly will. I am sure that I will be back in the House.