Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Question 72: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on recent figures produced by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs showing that one in twenty Irish people and almost one in ten young people had taken cocaine; if these figures reflect the continuing widespread availability of cocaine in this country; the additional measures he will take to cut off the supply of cocaine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40175/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Over the last number of years the Government has been aware of and concerned by the increasing prevalence of cocaine use in Ireland. We are not alone in this as this development reflects increasing use of the drug across all of Europe in recent times.

The drug prevalence study recently produced by the National Advisory Committee on Drugs (NACD) which measured illegal drug use in Ireland over the period 2006/2007 confirmed that there has been a significant increase in the prevalence of cocaine use here albeit from a low level.

Prior to the completion of this study, the National Advisory Committee on Drugs (NACD) and the National Drug Strategy Team (NDST) prepared a joint briefing paper on cocaine, based on existing data in Ireland. This paper was presented to the Interdepartmental Drugs Group in September 2006.

The Interdepartmental Drugs Group, chaired by Minister of State John Curran T.D., is liaising on an ongoing basis with the relevant Departments and Agencies in relation to their implementation of the recommendations contained in the report.

Efforts to tackle the problem of cocaine are broadly based to include measures aimed at both supply and demand reduction, including awareness initiatives. A range of measures are being delivered by other Government Departments and agencies, drug task forces and community based projects to address the cocaine problem.

The remit of this Department in relation to this issue is primarily that of law enforcement.

This increasing use of cocaine in recent times is, of course, a matter of concern for the Gardaí and the Garda authorities have taken a number of measures to address the problem on the supply reduction side.

The Garda National Drugs Unit and local drugs units conduct intelligence-driven operations to target individuals suspected of involvement in the distribution of cocaine.

Drug units and community policing personnel are engaged in intelligence gathering on individuals and groups suspected of involvement in the sale and distribution of the drug. There is also targeted patrolling by uniform and plain-clothes personnel of problem areas in order to detect and disrupt persons involved in such activity.

Data provided by the Garda authorities concerning the number, volume and value of cocaine seizures for the period 2000 to 2008 to date demonstrates that such strategies are resulting in significant operational successes.

Last week's Operation Seabight which was carried out in co-operation with the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre (Narcotics) MAOC(N) in Lisbon resulted in a very significant cocaine seizure in global terms and I once again commend all our law enforcement agencies involved in its hugely successful outcome. The Centre is a focused initiative which has the specific objective of intercepting narcotic shipments, in particular cocaine, to the European Union from Latin America and the value of its work was very publicly demonstrated last week.

Tackling the increasing use of cocaine in Ireland in recent years will be an issue of priority in the development of the Government's new National Drugs Strategy 2009-2016 currently being developed under the remit of Minister of State John Curran T.D.