Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Question 202: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if her attention has been drawn to the fact that a young woman collapsed and was hospitalised during the summer 2007 having consumed pills containing the substance benzlpiperazine, a substance recently banned in Britain, which are available over the counter in up to 30 shops here; and if she will make the necessary provisions to prohibit the sale of such pills. [24815/07]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 and the Regulations made thereunder regulate and control the import, export, production, supply and possession of a range of named narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances listed in the schedules to the Act. Substances are scheduled under the Act in accordance with the Department's obligations under international conventions and/or where there is evidence that the substances are being misused and are causing a level of harm to public health in Ireland which could merit the criminalisation of their sale and use. The Act also limits packaging and labelling of controlled drugs. The list of scheduled substances is kept under review on an ongoing basis. In particular the Department reviews any evidence that substances are being abused and are causing significant harm to public health.

BZP is not currently a scheduled substance under Misuse of Drugs legislation, but its status is under advanced review. A specific risk assessment procedure for new psychoactive substances carried out by the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) has found that the use of BZP can lead to medical problems even if long term effects of the substance are still unknown.

The European Commission has, therefore, decided to ask the Council of Ministers to place BZP under control in accordance with the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances. If the Council adopts the Commission's proposal, Member States must act as soon as possible, but no later than one year from the date of the decision, to introduce control measures and criminal sanctions. For Ireland, the introduction of national measures will involve declaring BZP to be a controlled substance under Irish Misuse of Drugs legislation and adding it to the schedule of controlled substances in accordance with that legislation.