Results 401-420 of 1,084,219 for in 'Dáil debates' OR in 'Committee meetings' (speaker:Eamon Scanlon OR speaker:Joan Burton OR speaker:Marc Ó Cathasaigh OR speaker:Imelda Munster OR speaker:Joan Burton0 OR speaker:Patrick O'Donovan OR speaker:Cathal Crowe OR speaker:James Browne OR speaker:Pat Buckley OR speaker:Michael McGrath OR speaker:Denis Naughten OR speaker:Gerald Nash OR speaker:Seán Haughey OR speaker:Damien English OR speaker:Charlie McConalogue OR speaker:Paul McAuliffe OR speaker:Michael Lowry OR speaker:Michael Ring OR speaker:Joan Burton1 OR speaker:Heather Humphreys OR speaker:Colm Brophy OR speaker:Emer Higgins OR speaker:Seán Crowe OR speaker:Mark Ward OR speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice OR speaker:Joe O'Brien)

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: That answers my second question as well because I was wondering about the criteria. I worked in addiction services. I used to work in ones out in Clondalkin and at that time, people there were not able to go to the drug treatment courts because of the criteria. Ms Brennan said 699 individuals have gone through the drug treatment courts since 2001. To me that is 30 individuals per year on...

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: Okay. The drug treatment court has a requirement for being drug-free. Does that include prescription methadone or anything like that?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: It is just street drugs.

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: I have a question for Mr. Duffin as well. I am aware of his operation in Limerick. I used to work for CASP, which had a sister project, the under-18s service in Limerick. I nearly relocated there are at one stage. I banged my head and ended up in this kind of role at the time. Mr. Duffin mentioned an awful lot about what is going on in Dublin. Maurice Quinlivan, our TD in Limerick, who...

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: So it is similar.

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: On that as well, we have a big problem in Dublin with drug debt intimidation. We have talked about it at the committee before. The DRIVE project has been started here. Is there anything similar in Limerick? What is the experience there with drug debt intimidation?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: Is Limerick experiencing the same level of intimidation as Dublin?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: Going back to the drug treatment court, does drug debt intimidation come up when people are accessing that court? Has that been experienced at all?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: I thank the Chair.

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: I thank all the witnesses for being here, especially Mr. Duffin. We have talked about this many times and it is good to see us at a point where an Oireachtas committee is considering a health-led approach. It is my view we should move towards such an approach. As the people who are interested in this committee are all in the same space, sometimes we are preaching to the converted, so I...

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: I suppose that is part of the challenge in that as we start to think about this issue, people do not want to make things worse. Most people are in that space. As they do not want to make things worse, there is a lot of consensus now building around the health-led approach. As we delve more into it, however, there is the spectre of the industry being there and the intimidation, gangland...

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: Even if no change is made, a lot of people will ask why not put more people through the drugs court; why is it not operating nationally,; why do we not do more and is that model not used more? Will the witnesses answer some of those questions?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: I will ask about mental health because often we find, and it was part of the dual diagnosis report conducted by the Finglas Addiction Support Team, FAST, and DCU, that so much of the two issues are interlinked. From the witnesses' work in the drugs court, and Mr. Duffin's at Ana Liffey, will they paint a picture of how much of a role mental health plays in the area of addiction?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: Is that about trying to find places for treatment?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Oct 2024)

Paul McAuliffe: And Mr. Duffin?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: I have to refute some of what was said. I was at another meeting but I caught the end of some allegations against Sinn Féin.

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: There will be questions at the end.

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: Our position was misconstrued and not given correctly. I want to put the record straight.

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: There was a statement made that there was nothing at the Sinn Féin Ard-Fheis in respect of decriminalisation. I point out to Senator Ruane that we had a very comprehensive motion at the Ard-Fheis, motion No. 94 - I wrote the motion so I know it - that accepts all the recommendations of the citizens' assembly, including decriminalisation of drug use. Senator Ruane referred to people...

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (10 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: There is an argument that not everybody found in simple possession needs to go through a health-led approach. They may be using drugs recreationally and may not have any other problems, in the same way that people use alcohol at the weekends. Is it a waste of resources to direct people in that cohort to a health-led approach? That seems to be the conversation at the moment, that everybody...