Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I welcome the Minister of State to the House for statements on the national drugs strategy. The Minister of State will have ten minutes to speak. Group spokespersons will have ten minutes, all other Senators will have four minutes, and the Minister of State will be called on to reply to the debate no later than 7.22 p.m. Statements will have to conclude by 7.30 p.m., in line with the Order of Business as agreed today.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Members of Seanad Éireann for inviting me to update them on the development of the new national drugs strategy and related policy developments. A health-led strategy recognises drugs as a health issue and it encourages people to avoid, reduce and recover from drug-related harm. It promotes the principle of a right to health for people who use drugs by supporting people to access healthcare and promoting recovery as an initial response. It also seeks to protect and improve public health and well-being by preventing and reducing the harms linked to substance use for individuals, their families and the community.

The Strategic Action Plan 2023-2024 marked a significant milestone in the implementation of the national drugs strategy, Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery. It contained 34 actions across the six strategic priorities of strengthening the prevention of drug and alcohol use and the associated harms among children and young people; enhancing access to the delivery of drug and alcohol services in our communities; developing integrated care pathways for high-risk drug users to achieve better health outcomes, and we are very supportive of this and we know we have to deliver as many services as we can; addressing the social consequences of drug use in disadvantaged communities; promoting alternative coercive sanctions for drug-related offences; and strengthening evidence-informed and outcomes-focused practice, services, policies and strategy which we can implement and deliver.

The implementation of the strategy action plan marks the end of the national drugs strategy. The Department has commissioned an independent evaluation of the strategy and the action plan, which is due to be submitted to the Department in the coming weeks. The evaluation is being conducted by Grant Thornton, which was appointed following a public procurement process. Grant Thornton has consulted stakeholders involved in the oversight of the strategy, including the network of drug and alcohol task forces, civil society organisations, the voluntary drug and alcohol sectors, and CityWide and other community-based drug services.

The focus of the strategy is a health-led approach to drug use. To illustrate this, I will briefly highlight some significant achievements in the previous year. The Department and I believe these have been very positive. We opened the supervised injection facility, SIF, at Merchants Quay in Dublin in late December 2024, under a licence issued by the then Minister of State with responsibility for the national drugs strategy. Thus, Ireland became the 18th country in the world to have such a facility. The SIF is a partnership between the Department of Health, the Health Service Executive and Merchants Quay Ireland, which manages and delivers the service. The primary purpose of the SIF is the prevention of drug overdose and the reduction of harms associated with injection drug use. The licence for the facility is for a period of 18 months, during which evaluation of its impact will be completed. The evaluation will inform decisions about continuing the facility and the potential for applications to establish SIFs in other areas of the country.

We also opened a new community care facility that provides a broad spectrum of drug and alcohol addiction services along with other health services especially for people who are homeless in Usher's Island in the Liberties, Dublin, in October 2024. It was recently spoken about in the Seanad. The facility is a partnership between the Department of housing, which funded the construction, the Department of Health and the HSE, which fund the operating cost, and Dublin Simon Community, which manages and staffs the facility. A total of 51 beds are in operation, with the capacity to provide 700 episodes of care, including step-up and step-down care with acute hospital residential treatment for drug addiction, treatment for blood-borne viruses and support for people in recovery.

The good news, having visited the facility today, is that the 12 beds to open this year under phase 2 will be opened on Monday. There are now 51 beds which can be occupied and the other 12 beds, which are part of the second phase for this year, will be opened on Monday, 14 July. I am delighted with this. This new facility is a game changer in providing timely access to high-quality healthcare services that address the complex health needs of people who are homeless. It is hoped that in the long term the facility will also contribute to a reduction in premature deaths and enable a pathway out of homelessness. It is giving people in the service, whether in local authorities or other services, guidance and a pathway.

We can also report on major progress in the implementation of the Government's health diversion scheme, whereby people in possession of drugs for personal use will be diverted towards a health response. Alongside the Minister for justice, I have agreed the scheme will commence on an administrative basis, working with An Garda Síochána and the Director of Public Prosecutions. At present they are finalising the operational details and we are waiting for the sign-off. This will be brilliant once we get it over the line. The scheme is in line with the recommendations of the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use for a comprehensive health-led approach with emphasis on drug use. With regard to how we can implement these and work on them, this is planned for a year and after this first year we will then have a look at it. This is a comprehensive health-led response to drug possession.

We have greatly increased the capacity of drugs services to respond to the demand for treatment for problem drug use. In 2024, 13,295 cases sought treatment, an increase of 50% in the number of cases since the national drugs strategy commenced in 2017. It is worrying and something of which the Department and I are very mindful. More than 450 drug and alcohol services are available throughout the country, which can be found through an online services map or through service providers, with a total health expenditure of €160 million. At the same time, the Department of Health has commenced work on preparing the new national drugs strategy. The new strategy will be informed by the evaluation of the existing strategy, the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use, the programme for Government, development of the EU drugs strategy action plan and consultation with stakeholders. We will also work with Senators on the drugs committee because all of us are working together to find solutions.

To support the development of the next strategy, the Department has convened a number of in-person consultations with key stakeholders. These will be included as part of it. The priorities for the new strategy will involve the planning and development of the drug service in the HSE health regions and the lived and living experience of people who use drugs and their families. It is very important for the strategy that while we are working with drug users, we also have to be very aware of the families who are very much affected by this. Also of importance are the results of the development of the drugs workforce and drug prevention. More than 250 people have attended consultations, including representatives of the drug and alcohol task forces, drug service providers and civil society organisations. There was also a specific consultation event focused on lived experience, at which peers from several organisations representing people who use drugs were present in the Department of Health offices. This is what it is all about. We have to look at the lived experience. The group provided valuable insight and constructive contributions to the process.

A key input into the new strategy will be report of the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use. The report argues for a comprehensive health-led response to drugs. It contains 36 recommendations on prevention, harm reduction and treatment recovery. At the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the Government pledged to carefully consider and respond with urgency to the assembly's recommendation for reform of legislative policy and the operational approach to drug use, and to indicate the timeframe for implementing the recommendations, which it accepts.It is further acknowledged that full implementation of the citizens' assembly recommendations will require a major step-down change in how the State responds to drug use. We note the endorsement of the citizens' assembly recommendations in the interim report of the previous Joint Committee on Drugs Use. The drug committee added a further 49 recommendations in its interim report, which we will consider when drafting the new strategy.

The Government response to the recommendations is being finalised. I look forward to bringing a whole-of-government response to Cabinet and to the Taoiseach for approval. The step toward implementing the recommendations will then be set out in the new national drugs strategy. Officials in the Department of Health have begun drafting the new strategy. To guide this process, I am setting up a steering group which will be established for a limited time. The group will consist of experts and stakeholders whose insight and recommendations will enhance the content of the new strategy to meet the needs and challenge the drug situation. The timeframe for this strategy will be the end of 2025. My aim, and the aim of the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and his Department, is to get the first part of the strategy in place by the end of 2025.

The recently published European Drug Report 2025 reveals a drug market that is both resilient and influenced by the development taking place at global level. It is important that we work with our EU counterparts. The continuing health problems presented by the establishment of illicit drugs creates a challenging policy context for the shaping and implementation of an effective response. The scale and complexity of the European drug situation means Ireland and other member states must work together under the framework of the EU drugs strategy action plan that is currently under preparation. Ireland will work to ensure that we are working together in this, particularly as Ireland will hold the EU Presidency in the last six months of 2026, as Senators are aware. That is a huge thing for Ireland.

I look forward to working with Senators. I thank them all. I am delighted to have been invited to the House to speak about this.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for the overview of the strategy. The next Senators to speak are Senators Costello and Fitzpatrick and they are sharing time. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Teresa Costello (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming in. As we approach the final year of this strategy, it is essential that we reflect not only on progress made at national level but also on how the strategy is functioning on the ground in communities like Tallaght, where both the promise and the pressure of the strategy are visible every day. The current strategy rightly prioritises a public health approach to drug use and outlines five strategic goals, namely, prevention and early intervention, access to treatment and rehabilitation, harm reduction, supply reduction and supporting evidence-informed practice. This health-led, person-centred approach has strong public support and is backed by growing national and international evidence. Its key strength is its commitment to community-based delivery, recognising that local services are best placed to respond to local needs.

Tallaght exemplifies this. The Tallaght drugs and alcohol task force currently co-ordinates eight funded community-based projects as well as youth outreach and family support services. These organisations are implementing this strategy in full through prevention in education in schools and youth settings, community detox and harm reduction, family support, trauma recovery and peer-led recovery networks. Specialist outreach is also provided to at-risk groups such as women, young people and people using crack cocaine. Tallaght's work is aligned with national goals but the scale and complexity of local drug-related harm have grown substantially in recent years. Crack cocaine use is rising rapidly. Services are working with highly vulnerable individuals, many in acute distress with complex medical health needs and limited access to primary care. Only two services in Tallaght are currently equipped to work with crack users, both of which are at capacity.

Youth vulnerability is also rising. The Connect 4 Project is a street outreach project managed by South Dublin County Partnership and engaged with more than 500 young people in one year, many of whom were out of education and at risk of recruitment into the drug economy. Drug-related intimidation and violence is a growing concern, while the project employs an intimidation support worker funded under the DRIVE initiative, supporting individuals and families targeted for drug deaths and coercion.

These issues reflect national trends but they also show us where the strategy's implementation needs greater support, visibility and resourcing. The national strategy commits to equity of access, yet women in recovery face significant additional barriers, as documented by the mothers in addiction recovery rising report, which was produced in partnership with the Tallaght drugs and alcohol task force. Women spoke of a lack of childcare preventing access to services, stigma in parenting and recovery contexts and structural instability in housing and mental health supports. The current strategy must go further in supporting gender-specific and trauma-informed care, which must be reflected in the next iteration post 2025.

We also face a serious data gap. While the national drug treatment reporting system, NDTRS, captures structured treatment, it does not capture outreach, prevention, education or community safety work, all of which are core parts of what task forces deliver under the strategy. This undervalues the breadth of community responses and must be addressed in future monitoring frameworks. I have concerns about vulnerable people being housed but not being provided with the necessary wrap-around services, ending up in failed tenancies and houses being used for drug taking. Stronger State management is necessary, alongside dedicated case management, to ensure people can integrate properly after they are housed.

On sustainable funding, local services are operating on year-to-year allocations, with increasing complexity in compliance and accountability. This uncertainty weakens long-term planning and staff retention. As we look ahead to the strategy post 2025, we must affirm the role of local and regional drug and alcohol task forces as strategic partners and not just service conduits. They are embedded in their communities and deliver not only treatment but also prevention, family support, education and interagency co-ordination. They form the implementation infrastructure that gives life to national policy. They also offer a model for future health and community service delivery which is decentralised, person-centred, locally governed and accountable.

The national drugs strategy has given us a progressive health-led framework for action, but implementation is where it succeeds or fails. In Tallaght, services are doing everything asked of them while operating under pressure with rising demands and increasingly complex needs. The next strategy must consolidate, strengthen and scale what works. It must fund the front line, listen to community knowledge and be honest about what is needed to deliver real change. Ultimately, it is not about drug use; it is about public health, community safety and human dignity.

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House today to engage with us on this really important issue. I wish her well in her role as Minister of State with responsibility for drugs policy. I am very confident that she will be an excellent Minister of State and will make her mark in this Department because I know she is a very human individual and she always looks at the human. She looks beyond the policy and the statistics and at the human experience.

Drugs affect far too many of our citizens. Senator Costello and I are both from the capital. People might think it is a Dublin issue, but it is not. It is in every community in every part of the country now. We wish the Minister of State well and want to support her. She is in the role at an opportune time, because one strategy is coming to an end. She will now have an opportunity to inform and shape the next strategy. She is ideally positioned to this and we want to support her in doing that.

I have been elected Leas-Chathaoirleach of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Drug Use. It is a great privilege and honour, and I look forward to serving with the other Senators and TDs on the committee. The committee has a job of work to do over the nine months. We will commence our public hearings in September and we have a job of work to do to take the recommendations from the citizens' assembly and give a reasoned and considered report back to the Government. I look forward to doing that and working on a cross-party basis to ensure that we make recommendations that are implementable.

It is really encouraging to hear the Minister of State advocate so strongly for a health-led approach because that is the human response. I absolutely refute and reject those political voices who try to equate a health-led approach with being soft on criminal and illegal activities. These activities destroy individuals, families and communities, not just in the capital but all over the country.

The statistics for Ireland are shocking. We have the second highest overdose rate in Europe. One in four people in Ireland has used illicit drugs. Approximately 50% of our third level student population have reported using drugs and 70% of our prison population are suffering from addiction. The problem is real.

I take encouragement from the fact that the budget has been significantly increased this year. I think it was an increase of more than €40 million to the budget, an 18% increase. I point to the supervised injection centres, the map that shows the more than 450 drug and alcohol services in our communities, the fact that more than 13,000 cases were actually treated, and the information the Minister of State provided about Dublin Simon Community’s facility in Usher’s Quay.They are all real positives and we must take encouragement from them. We cannot lose sight of the fact that this is a real problem that is eating away and destroying the lives of individuals and their families.

I commend the Minister of State on the launch of the drug-related intimidation and violence engagement, DRIVE, initiative for people struggling with addiction. An articulate man spoke on “Oliver Callan” yesterday morning. I do not know whether any Members got a chance to listen to it. He spoke about how, as a young man, he started using drugs and how it completely took over his life. He spoke about how he started robbing from his own family. The DRIVE programme, therefore, is welcome. It is a great support.

The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Drugs Use must make strong, implementable recommendations. We must ensure that the next strategy massively reduces harm and increases society’s awareness and ability to respond in a humane and health-led way. It must reduce addiction in our society and increase recovery in order that everyone has an opportunity to live life to its full potential.

I wish the Minister of State well in her work and I look forward to working with her.

Aubrey McCarthy (Independent)
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I congratulate the Minister of State on her new role. I look forward to working with her. I thank her on behalf of the people of Kildare for opening a new sensory garden, Hope Cottage, last week, which was a fascinating event for family members of people caught in addiction.

To bring the Minister of State’s attention to the national drugs strategy, which is about to expire, there is one key issue that comes constantly to my desk. I am the chair of the south western regional drug and alcohol task force. I was also involved in the east coast task force for ten years. We renamed all the task forces as the alcohol and drug task forces, yet it seems alcohol is not being focused on in this strategy. I wish to ensure the emphasis is kept on alcohol because a lot is at stake regarding not only prevention and treatment, but also detoxification services, which I have spoken to the Minister of State about. In order to fully understand the strategy, we need to look at alcohol statistics and the present strategy, Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery, to look at how that needs to be progressed in the next strategy.

I took part in the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use in 2023. It focused more or less entirely on illicit drugs and left alcohol in a sort of blind spot. If one looks at the figures, however, alcohol remains the single most harmful drug in terms of deaths, hospital use and economic cost. There is large-scale harm. There were 8,163 cases in specialist treatment services in 2023, which was nearly as many as all of the other drugs combined, according to a Health Research Board report. An estimated 1,500 acute hospital beds are occupied daily due to alcohol-related illnesses. Up to 30% of emergency department presentations are linked to alcohol use, especially at weekends and during holiday periods. Approximately four people in Ireland die every day due to alcohol-related diseases. We also heard on “Morning Ireland” today about alcohol’s link with cancer. I am involved in a women’s centre for women with addiction. Foetal alcohol spectrum disorder often comes up, which is a lifelong, serious complication. What I am saying is that alcohol causes huge harm. It takes approximately 11% of the entire health budget to deal with alcohol each year, and alcohol-related issues cost our country €12 billion annually. It is not a substance to be left on the side. It certainly needs to be a dominant aspect of the strategy because that is where the demand in our health services is going.

The annual reports of 2023 and 2024 from my organisation, Tiglin, show that alcohol remains the primary reason for entry into most of the residential programmes, with more than 60% of the admissions being for alcohol. It rose 15% in 2024 among males aged 30 to 55, which even surprised me. Women who come into the centres often cite alcohol as being a leading factor when it comes to presenting with domestic violence and trauma issues. It seems there is a whole issue regarding alcohol and detoxification. One quarter of treatment cases require inpatient detox, which is more than 2,000 people per year. Figures from a reply to a parliamentary question asked in October show there are only 120 publicly funded detox beds in Munster and Leinster, for example. There are long waiting lists. We see that every day through the organisation I am involved in and through working with many others.

The HSE would argue that 79 general hospital beds are routinely occupied by people awaiting a dedicated detox. This is costing an estimated €12 million per year. That is for out-of-place services being focused on alcohol. Unless we expand detoxification, clear the gaps and address all the other aspects, such as aftercare, rehab and recovery capital, it will all backlog. The options are either to keep alcohol very much focused as part of the new strategy, which will avoid duplication, or to come up with a parallel national strategy for alcohol with a dedicated budget and a single accountable lead. Alcohol Action Ireland has a focus on trying to get a 40% reduction in per capita consumption. If we double our detoxification capacities from 120 to 250 beds and ring-fence funding streams, it will have an amazing impact in Ireland in reducing alcohol harm. I have mentioned that alcohol takes up 11% of the entire health budget. Financing detox beds would lead to huge savings and enhance enforcement regarding alcohol harm prevention.

Alcohol presents the greatest burden on our hospitals, treatment services and economy. It is a greater burden than heroin, cocaine and methamphetamines combined. Although heroin is a bogeyman and we hear about cocaine and these other awful illicit drugs, alcohol is doing more damage. If we roll alcohol into a wider strategy without dedicated leadership, we will repeat the cycle of what we have done so far, that is, a strategy without delivery.

I ask the Minister of State to consider what I have said and to try to give alcohol the equivalent priority that other drugs have taken with regard to funding and the expansion of detoxification services. Anything else will leave the most harmful drug, alcohol, once again in a policy blind spot in Ireland. In her new role, the Minister of State has decisive action to take. This could be a generational change in Ireland’s relationship with alcohol. We need to seize it.

I am 53 years of age now. I was brought up in a home where alcohol had a very negative effect. It impacted me for life. There are many people out there in the same situation. Back then, the Eastern Health Board was in operation. Steps could have been taken that would have impacted the likes of myself.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for attending. I compliment her on her new role and wish her all the best. I know how passionate she is about this subject and about finding solutions. I look forward to working with her. My experience with drug and alcohol treatment goes back to when I was part of the mid-west drugs task force, where I served for ten years. Many treatment centres and people doing different things came out of that, which formed support both for the people in addiction and their families. I wish to highlight some of the centres that are there, such as the Ana Liffey Drug Project, Cuan Mhuire, the community substance-based team run by the HSE, and the Coolmine project, which operates both in Dublin and Limerick. One such centre with which I am involved is the Saoirse Addiction Treatment Centre.Senator McCarthy referred to the use of alcohol along with drugs. Last year, we saw over 500 people in Saoirse, many of whom had a dual diagnosis in that they had both drug and alcohol issues. This issue needs to be looked at.

There is also a whole piece around education because we need to get across to people at a young age the harmful side-effects of drugs. I compliment the Garda and those who patrol Irish waters on their work. In the past two weeks, there have been significant drugs hauls. Using various resources, the Garda was able to take possession of the drugs.

With funding from the mid-west drugs task and the sports partnership, an app called Supporting Positive Outcomes in Recovery Together, SPORT, is now running in Limerick. It involves Limerick Sports Partnership working with the different treatment and addiction services. The app gives people exercises to do. It provides education, people are shown the harmful effects and it also supports people coming out of recovery. The biggest issue is that when people do come out of recovery they and their families are supported because it does have a knock-on effect on their families.

The needle exchange programme is really important, as is educating people on the harms and side-effects of drugs. From having visited the Coolmine houses in Dublin and Limerick, I know the wonderful work it does and how the people who are there become mentors in the houses for the people who are in treatment, and the success stories that have come out of Coolmine. Sometimes these centres do not sell their success stories. It is frightening to think that people in all age groups, from the young to the not-so-young, are still injecting or taking drugs. I understand cocaine use is among the highest. That is frightening because cocaine can be of good or poor quality and it can have different side-effects on people.

When the Minister of State comes to Limerick, I invite her to visit one or two of these centres because some of the programmes run in these centres would be beneficial to her with regard to her new strategy. I think it was Senator Fitzpatrick who said the strategy is coming to an end, and the Minister of State has the chance to put her own stamp on the next one. Some of the learning outcomes from what the centres are finding on the ground may be useful to the Minister of State in her work-----

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Yes.

Maria Byrne (Fine Gael)
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-----and also to Senator Fitzpatrick with regard her work on the committee. I believe in getting varied views from people who have life experience of this and those involved in the treatment centres. I compliment all those involved in treatment centres because it is not an easy job. It is about building trust as well. Gardaí work alongside many of the centres. It is about building trust with the person who comes forward for treatment, some of them on a voluntary basis and some encouraged by their families. It is about how to work with them the whole way through and keep that support going when they have come out the other end. Well done to the Minister of State. I look forward to working with her.

Nicole Ryan (Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for being here today. There is no doubt that there is good work being done by a lot of people across the board. As we mark the end of the national drugs strategy, we are compelled to ask what has really changed, what progress have we made and, crucially, where have we failed. If this strategy is coming to a close, we owe it to the people affected, those in addiction, the families who are grieving and the workers on the ground to be honest about the state of play.

I will begin with some numbers. It varies year on year but over 300 people die from drug-related causes in Ireland every year. That is almost one a day depending on the year. Almost 20,000 people in Ireland are classed as problematic opioid users. In 2023 alone, there were nearly 5,000 cases treated for the use of cocaine, a substance now deeply rooted and embedded in our communities. Rural, urban, working-class, affluent - you name it - it is there and it is everywhere. In November 2023, 57 overdoses were recorded in just three days in Dublin due to nitazenes, synthetic opioids more powerful than fentanyl, with a similar alert issued in Cork shortly afterwards.

What has the financial response to this kind of crisis been? Last year, an additional €4 million was allocated on top of the budget for drug-related prevention services. Some €2 million of that was to expand community-based drug services, €1 million was to roll out alcohol treatment services and €500,000 was for a national drug prevention campaign. I want to talk about this because we recently had officials before the drugs committee who have not used that funding for a national campaign. The Minister of State would be well aware of HHC and the effects it has. I queried the officials on why they have not started the campaign because I do not know what they are waiting for. Are they waiting for somebody to die before they actually roll it out? We are halfway into 2025 and still we have not seen a campaign around that. There is also €500,000 for harm reduction initiatives. That gives €4 million as a top-up in total.

For a crisis that is killing hundreds, traumatising thousands and hollowing out entire communities, a single road upgrade project costs a whole lot more than that. The strategy talks about a health-led approach but where is the health-led infrastructure to back that up? Where is the detox and rehabilitation centre outside of Dublin? Where are the wraparound services for young people at risk of being groomed into the drug trade? Where is the investment in harm reduction and recovery, not just enforcement?

According to the 2024 Irish national drugs report, 44% of users report using three or more substances. Polydrug use is the norm in our society; it is not the exception any more. Cocaine is often used with alcohol and cannabis is used to manage anxiety, sleep and depression, yet the mental health services are siloed off from addiction care. Even among teenagers, 22% of boys and 14% of girls aged 15 to 17 say they have used cannabis in the last year. One third of drug users in a web survey reported using ketamine in the past year, a figure well above the European average. Meanwhile, our community projects, the people who do the real front-line work, are burning out. They are running out of short-term funding and dealing with ad hoc pilots and empty promises.

As the Minister of State knows, the European drugs report for this year stated plainly that we are dealing with increasingly potent drugs. They are rapidly shifting markets and the vulnerable are prey for violent networks, often recruiting children to social media to sell and deliver drugs. I am not coming from this from an abstract place. I am coming from the front line. I have been in drug and alcohol services. I have worked in homeless services and with the people on the front line. I have been delivering education for the last ten years in schools. I have worked with teenagers. This is not just me criticising but giving out lived and real experience for the people on the ground. We need to stop pretending that we are ahead of the curve; we are not. While the Government can make statements, communities are being left to fight this alone.

What we are calling for is a properly resourced national strategy, with ring-fenced and multi-annual funding. That is really crucial for people. Ad hoc services just do not work. They are not fair on people. We need a model of decriminalisation for personal use based on the recommendations of the citizens' assembly, so that we are moving such use out of the criminal system and looking at a health-led approach, where it actually belongs. We need rapid access to detox and rehab in most regions. It is obviously not going to happen overnight but we have been talking about a Cork injection centre for years and there is still no sign of that coming down the line for us. We need investment in trauma-informed community responses that recognise addiction is not just around drug use but is rooted in poverty, mental ill-health and generational trauma and harm that happens to people.

Equally, we need to look at what happens next because right now we do not have a clear timeline for the publication of the draft strategy. The Minister of State mentioned it would be at the end of this year, and that is great, but we asked this question in the drug committee and we did not have a timeline then. The stakeholders the committee members have previously met, from outreach workers to service providers, are deeply concerned about the lack of consultation. They are the people on the cold front of this crisis and their insights are not optional. They are essential to this. The lack of communication on a strategy process is alarming. Across both section 38 and 39 organisations, the core issues of funding, staffing and the ability to retain skilled workers - the pay in these places is abysmal - have been the same for decades.We are asking an addiction counsellor who is qualified and who has spent thousands to work at basic pay with absolutely no job security. That is ridiculous. It is no wonder that people do not stay in these jobs. Not only are they subjected to trauma themselves in taking on a lot of people, they are not even paid properly for it. The strategy should be progressing in tandem with the work of the Oireachtas Committee on Drugs Use, and if that is not happening, the draft strategy must take into account the final report from the group. That is a must. To date, the committee has met privately to scope and shape the work plan, but future meetings will need to invite a broad range of stakeholders, such as we have been talking about the past while, and that work should, in turn, inform the strategy. A clear timeline is not just helpful for us, it is actually essential for us.

This is not just about policy, it is about political will. Right now, the State is spending more money policing drug users than helping them recover. It is easier to cut a ribbon than to fund a clinic. It is easier to talk about a strategy than actually put your shoulder to the wheel. Real leadership means facing the reality that we have failed to address the drugs crisis with the urgency it demands . We have heard it here about these people. It is everywhere. We all know people and families who are struggling with this. The next strategy cannot be a document full of ambition but empty of action. It must be brave. It has to be funded, community rooted and unapologetic about being health led. If we do not change course we will keep burying people and their blood would be on the hands of a State that knew and yet did too little.

Patricia Stephenson (Social Democrats)
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I thank the Minister of State. I think it is the first time I have had the chance to have a discussion with her in the Chamber. It is good to see her here.

We are obviously having this debate in the context of the new national strategy on drugs, and it is within that framework that the Government's approach to the drugs policy is at a bit of a crossroads. I do not believe we can continue with strategies that punish instead of support and that stigmatise instead of heal. The Social Democrats believe it requires a complete shift from a model of criminalisation to one of care and prevention. We must move towards the decriminalisation model that prioritises a public health-led approach. This has been proposed by many advocates, including all of the people in the citizens' assembly. It is about the removal of criminal penalties for individuals struggling with addiction or substance use. This really matters because it is recognising that those people need help. They do not need a criminal record or time in prison.

We must ensure that we use this pivotal moment of the new strategy to put in place a framework that is genuinely effective, equitable and rooted in the needs of our communities with communication, consultation and reaching out into communities where the problems are, where the solutions are, and where the knowledge and expertise are, particularly the expertise of those who know how to support those most in need. The citizens' assembly did vital work in hearing directly from communities, experts and those with lived experience of substance abuse. The assembly's findings reflected what many people already knew, that the current approach and system is failing. Mr. Paul Reid, chair of the citizen's assembly, said "We were stunned by the length of time it takes to introduce even modest changes". While the national drugs strategy emphasises prevention, reduction and treatment, the reality in the implementation on the ground is very different.

Our streets, our prisons and our accident and emergency departments are all full of the consequences of our current approach to drug use. None of those spaces are equipped to provide the kind of trauma-informed and health-based interventions that actually change people's lives. We need an approach to drug use through the lens of public health and social justice. This includes understanding the deep links between substance abuse, poverty, trauma, exclusion and intergenerational trauma. These are very real issues for many people and it is their lived reality. When those issues are not addressed, people often turn to substance abuse as a coping mechanism. That is really a symptom of how society has failed them. Far too many people end up in prison because they were denied access to mental health care, therapy, proper housing or, indeed, a pathway out of poverty. Our prisons are full of people who deserve to be better served by access to care and not incarceration. We need to be taking a holistic approach when we are looking at responding to people dealing with substance abuse.

If we truly want to reduce the influence of drug dealers in criminal networks in our communities, we need to stop the demand by helping people not turn to substance abuse in the first place. That means access to therapy, addiction services, mental health supports and community-led harm reduction. Continually punishing people who need help does not do them or society any good. While most of the discourse around drug use and addiction is often centred around Dublin, these problems exist in every community, rural and urban, like the ones the Minister of State and I both live in. We need services and supports throughout the country as well so that they are accessible and integrated into wider social supports at very specific low-level community levels.

The Social Democrats support the full implementation of the citizens' assembly recommendations. A key recommendation from the citizens' assembly was effective stakeholder involvement in the implementation of the national drugs strategy. A community-based approach must be fundamental for evaluating the outgoing strategy and developing the new one. We have, however, heard from community-based addiction services that they perceive these consultations to be very tick box and top down. This is not good enough to respond appropriately to the needs of communities when it comes to tackling addiction. We have heard that the Department has engaged 250 stakeholders. Following communication with the community drug sector, we have heard that these consultations have not been sufficient or meaningful and have not included members and services effectively. Meaningful consultation that does include service users and members will be critical for the next drugs strategy. Given the instrumental work that the community sector performs in the implementation of the strategy, its input really is key. I believe this is not just a question of policy, it is a question of values. We as a country have failed so many people. Now we have to make this decision about prioritising those people, the most vulnerable who really need this help. I do not want us in 20 years' time to be looking at a redress scheme, for example, because we failed people who were trapped in cycles of intergenerational trauma and substance abuse due to structural inequalities and the ongoing criminalisation, which, let us be honest, predominately affects young, working-class people.

I also lend my support Senator McCarthy's contribution on alcoholism. Alcoholism affects every family in Ireland, including my own, and it is something that is totally normalised in Irish culture. We have a fantastic reputation for being alcoholics. How horrifying. That is not necessarily our fault. Ireland has a history of intergenerational trauma from many different scandals. I do not believe, however, that as a society we are doing a huge amount to tackle it. We have loopholes in alcohol advertising, for example, with the 0.0% products, that allow children to see those billboards. Those ads can be on television or at bus stops. Those loopholes should not be allowed to exist. In addition, the Government has said it will not enforce the health labelling approach. Originally, two years ago, the Minister had agreed we would have health label warnings for alcohol products. Now we have seen a roll-back on that. This is really troubling when, on the one hand, we are talking about having a health-led approach and then, on the other hand, we are rolling back these measures that would contribute to highlighting the health concerns around alcohol. Alcohol has destroyed families in Ireland. The decision to not enforce a health warning is really contradictory. There is no logic there when we are talking on one side about a health-led approach. I am aware it is not the Minister of State's Department but rather the Department of enterprise, but I recognise that the Minister of State is sitting at the Cabinet level and I would request she have those discussions and push back a little bit on that decision, which I believe is a mistake when we consider our relationship with alcohol in Ireland.

Frances Black (Independent)
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The Minister of State is very welcome to the Chamber. This is the first opportunity I have had to congratulate her on her new role. I hope she is very well settled into her brief. I know she is very passionate about this area. My colleagues and I in the Civil Engagement Group look forward to working with the Minister of State in the term ahead, particularly my colleague, Senator Lynn Ruane, who is very passionate about promoting harm reduction in Irish drugs policy and in making our approach to drug use and addiction more humane and person centred. Senator Ruane would really like to have been here tonight but she is launching the canal communities local drugs and alcohol task force new public safety strategy this evening. She really regrets that she cannot be here but she is due to meet with the Minister of State in the coming days.

The Minister of State and I met recently at an event that was run by the Family Addiction Support Network. I set up the Rise Foundation after going back to college to study addiction therapy and I ended up working in the Rutland Centre. It was there that I met with families and I saw the impact of alcohol and drug harm on those families. I realised quite quickly that they needed their own separate service and their own supports separate from the person. There is no doubt that addiction is a family disease. The whole family is impacted. There is not a family in this country that does not know somebody or have somebody. I just wanted to say that. The Rise Foundation, as the Minister of State will be aware, is something that is very close to my heart and I am still very much involved in it.It takes an awful lot of courage and strength for family members to step into their own recovery regardless of whether their loved one is in recovery or not. I want to give a shout out to all the amazing families who want to step into their own recovery.

The national drugs strategy is a hugely important guiding document that sets out the State's aspiration in responding to drug use and addiction in Ireland. The expiring strategy, Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery2017-2025, presented a step change in our approach, imbedding a commitment to a health-led response to drug use in addiction in both policy and practice. While the strategy has had some notable successes, the step change that it promised has not been fully realised. On the one hand, we say we have a health-led approach but, on the other hand, we still operate within an inflexible punitive model that criminalises people who use drugs. I think this is a worry.

The development of the new national drugs strategy is occurring at an important juncture. The Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use published its final report and recommendations in January 2024, presenting a mandate for the State to implement a comprehensive health-led approach to drug use in Ireland and to begin to undo the damage caused to individuals, families and communities by the criminalisation of drug users. Building on the momentum of the citizens' assembly, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Drugs Use was convened in March 2024 to consider the assembly's report and provide a roadmap to the Government about how we could give effect to its recommendations, publishing a landmark interim report last October. The new Joint Committee on Drugs Use will commence in public session after the summer. It would be really important to provide its members the opportunity to feed into discussions on the new strategy, if this is not already planned. Could an addendum to the strategy be considered, perhaps once the committee has prepared its final report, to ensure that there is synergy in terms of the policy direction?

Both the citizens' assembly and the joint committee arrived at the same conclusion, namely, that the status quo response to drug use in Ireland had failed and a transformative shift was required to remedy it. That transformative shift should be underpinned by the decriminalisation of drug possession for personal use. When we refer to decriminalisation, we must be clear that we are ultimately talking about decriminalising the person - the drug user - who has a substance in his or her possession for personal use, not the substance itself. Decriminalisation does not mean sanctions, coercion or mandated diversion. Instead, decriminalisation means an entirely voluntary, health-led and informed intervention that sees all of the person and not just his or her addiction.

As I have said many times, no child says he or she wants to be into drug addiction when he or she grows up. People are powerless over it. A health-led approach is extremely important. From my own work with the RISE Foundation and working in the prison with the women, these were all people who had been in drug addiction, and I know that if they had gone the health-led approach, their lives and the lives of their families would have been completely different. It is just another way of looking at it. They were all amazing women, by the way.

I was pleased to see a health-led approach reflected in Fianna Fáil's manifesto for the general election. It is something that my colleagues in the Civil Engagement Group, CEG, and I called for to be included explicitly in the new drugs strategy. I hope that the Minister of State will be in a position to provide the House with some clarity today about discussions that are being had within the Government and the Department of Health about implementing a policy of decriminalisation. Has the Department received guidance from the Attorney General about implementing decriminalisation without the creation of new laws? Have any risks or limitations been identified?

At the heart of the national drugs strategy is the community drugs sector, local drug and alcohol task force, community drug projects and civil society organisations. These services have the greatest interface with people who use drugs in Ireland and, alongside those with lived and living experience of addiction, have the best understanding of what is working and what is not and how we respond to drug use. Significant concern has been expressed by the community drugs sector about the role that it played in the evaluation of the expiring strategy and its ability to influence the development of a new one. While we appreciate that it might not have been the explicit intention of the Department, the sense from many community drugs projects that have engaged with us is that they have been sidelined in the process. The national oversight committee has been engaged by the Department, but it seems there is a lack of clarity about the nature of the involvement. Additionally, there is little clarity about whether consultation has taken place with people who have lived experience of drug use in designing the new strategy. As a result, we could end up with a strategy that fails to include the valuable insights or perspectives of drug users, drug services, community development projects or their members - key partners in any successful implementation.

I ask the Minister of State to say whether the stakeholders and the national oversight committee will have sign-off on the new strategy before it is published. Please explain what that process might look like.

The community drugs sector previously had to advocate very strongly for the retention of community as a core pillar in the national drugs strategy. It is hugely important that we continue to keep community at the heart of our national drugs strategy and recommit to a community development approach that sees people in the context of their own environment and experience and empowers communities to respond to drug use in an exclusively locally driven and socially informed manner. The incorporation of the principle of community development is important, but so is the resourcing that facilitates community projects doing the work that will meaningfully shift the dial. The community and voluntary sector wants to be doing this work but is heavily constrained by funding, resourcing and the bureaucratic boxes that are often required to be ticked. We need to see a meaningful resourcing of the sector so that we can see the true value of the interventions that it provides in our communities.

While there are a multitude of other areas that Senator Ruane and I would like clarity on, the final point I want to address is the creation of a dedicated Cabinet committee on drug policy, chaired by the Taoiseach. This is something that was called for by both the citizens' assembly and the joint committee. Given the seriousness of the issue in Ireland, a country that, to our shame, has among the highest incidence rates of drug-induced deaths in Europe, the creation of a Cabinet committee would send a positive message to individuals who use drugs, their families and their communities, a message that says that we acknowledge our past failures and are committed to making the transformative changes required to realise a more compassionate, humane and evidence-led approach to drug use and addiction. I think that the Minister of State is the one who can lead on all of this. I have no doubt that she has the will, knowledge and compassion to do this. I really do know that she is very passionate about this issue and I thank her for that.

Pauline Tully (Sinn Fein)
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The national drugs strategy is coming to an end, so one would imagine that preparation should be ongoing to review the current strategy in order to learn from it and inform the next strategy or where we go from here, but stakeholders have expressed concern that there has been a lack of consultation on the ground. There are many organisations that work in our communities. They know what is going on. They work with people with addiction problems and with those people's families, yet these organisations are not being properly supported or engaged with. The biggest issue is the lack of funding. Many of them are section 38 or section 39 organisations. They are not provided with multi-annual funding. They also have a huge issue with retaining staff. Staff are not paid sufficiently for their vital work.

The outlook of the drugs strategy is the correct one. It is a health-led approach. When someone with a drug or alcohol addiction seeks help, he or she needs to access that help there and then, not be told that there is a waiting list of three or six months for services, which is what is happening in my home area. There is are huge waiting lists for any sort of help. I taught in a secondary school for many years and I would not like to sit down and write down all the names of my former pupils who are now deceased as a result of drugs. There are too many of them. Those young lives were cut short because they did not get the help that they required. Some of them died due to accidental overdose, some due to suicide because of the mental health issues related to drug abuse, and some because of drug intimidation and debt intimidation, unfortunately. It leaves behind devastation in families and communities. We hear all the time the statement that drugs are everywhere and commonplace, and that is frightening. As the mother of two sons in their teenage years, I am frightened for them. All I can do is talk to them and hope that I can get to through to them about staying away from drugs. However, drugs affect everybody. Drugs affect every community and people from all socioeconomic backgrounds.Those who come from a background where there is poverty, deprivation - it might be intergenerational poverty and deprivation - or intergenerational addiction find it more difficult to get the help to get out of that situation. As well as the health-led approach for those who have addiction issues, we need to see investment in communities that have suffered deprivation and intergenerational poverty. That will make all the difference.

I often hear there is no place for young people to hang-out. I see it myself; there is no place for them in many of our communities. They end up taking the wrong choices or going to the pub because that is the only option available to them to socialise and mix. That is the wrong message to be sending to our young people. We should have facilities for our young people. We need to invest in our communities.

Our prisons are overcrowded. The Minister of State was on the disability committee. We heard from the Prison Service about how may people were in prison due to mental health issues. They should not be in there. That is not the place for them. It is the same with people with addiction problems. That is not where they can get the proper help. They need help. We need to see the decriminalisation of people for possession of drugs. They need to be given the opportunity to engage with health-led services. I hope that will steer them away from drugs, drink and addiction problems and into a different lifestyle.

We need to see an increase in funding for our local and regional drug and alcohol task forces. It was cut drastically at the time of the recession. They are the services that should never be cut. We need to support people in our communities on an ongoing basis and not just leave them to the wolves. We need to see proper funding support for recovery services, such as publicly owned, community-operated rehabilitation and detoxification inpatient facilities. We also need to see supports for dual diagnoses of mental health and addiction because they go hand-in-hand.

I acknowledge the great support our resource centres are giving to families in our communities. Many of them end up trying to provide services to people with drug and alcohol issues. They are not being funded properly. We need to see proper funding put into our resource centres and all of our community-based centres to support people in our communities.

Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú)
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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.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank all of the Senators who contributed to the debate. I invite the Minister of State to respond.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I thank everyone for the good wishes. I am delighted to be here in my role as Minister of State, particularly as it relates to the new drugs strategy. I want to work with everyone here. I can see the passion Senators have, and I have it, too. Every day, I see families who have been affected by drugs. I have learned a lot more since becoming Minister of State. I am working with all of the different services. I am talking to families. I see the way they are affected. I also see the huge stigma that is attached to being someone who is a drugs user for them and their families. I see the need for a new drugs strategy and I know that we need to make changes.

I will try to respond to most people said, but if I do not manage to, I am delighted to meet them any time. I am here to listen, learn and work with the Department on where we can make changes. I will be meeting Senator Lynne Ruane tomorrow. I have arranged to meet her because I knew she could not be here today.

Senator Fitzpatrick raised the huge issue of awareness and the importance of a health-led approach. That is really what I am, namely, a Minister of State under the health-led approach. That is what I want to do. Senator Fitzpatrick also talked about DRIVE. DRIVE is an initiative we launched a few of weeks ago through the Department. It is about drugs and the drugs intimidation being experienced by families. There are families that are really frightened. We want to let them know we are helping them. We have supports. As a Government, we are committed to helping families.

Senator Costello raised the issue of education. She spoke about Tallaght. I am meeting the drugs task force network tomorrow. It does great work in Tallaght. I am mindful to meet everyone I can so that I can listen, because this is not just about Dublin, but about the whole country. We have to make sure that every part of Ireland is covered and that we have resources.

Another issue the Department and I are very mindful of is women and having supports in place to help women who need them.

The implementation of the Government's health diversion scheme came up during the debate. We are working on that. Where people are found in possession of drugs for personal use, they will be directed to health-led responses. We are also working with An Garda Síochána and the DPP. I hope we will have word soon about the way forward and how we can do that. It is a health-led approach, working with An Garda Síochána. We are working closely with the Minister for justice, Jim O'Callaghan, and his Department. It is important that we thank gardaí for the work they do. It is important.

HHC was also brought up during the debate. I am hopeful that we will make that a controlled drug within the next two to three weeks. One hundred and sixty-nine treatment cases were reported to the NDTRS where HHC was recorded as the main or additional problem drug. The majority of those treated for HHC were male and mostly 19 years of age. We are aware of that issue and it is another matter we are committed to.

As Minister of State, I can only say that there is a lot to do. I did not even bring up my script because I wanted to listen to Senators' concerns. I see how passionate they are. We need to make the changes. We need to deliver on services. We need to make sure there is awareness. We need to make sure there is no stigma. All of us together, we can do that. There will be challenges and there will be services that we need to see where we can get funding for them. The officials in the Department, like myself, want to do this right. We have to do this right. That is what I want to do.My ambition is that the next national drugs strategy will create a society where the reasons people use drugs are addressed, the harms associated with drugs are reduced and recovery from drug addiction is supported. That is what I want to do. I want to work with everybody.

As I said, my door is always open. I am a Minister of State who wants to work with everyone and learn because for me every day in my Department is a learning day. I am lucky to have great staff in the Department. It is important to me that we all work together to find solutions and services and make sure that no family or person who needs a service is unable to access it. That is one thing I am passionate about. I was delighted to be invited to the House to speak. I have worked with many Senators over the years and I am delighted to be here to speak to them. As I said, my door is always open.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister of State for coming to talk to us about the national drugs strategy. When is it proposed to sit again?

Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail)
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Tomorrow at 10.30 a.m.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.