Results 641-660 of 1,128,958 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Áine Brady OR speaker:Mary Lou McDonald OR speaker:Darragh O'Brien OR speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh OR speaker:Aindrias Moynihan OR speaker:Leo Varadkar OR speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh22 OR speaker:Pádraig O'Sullivan OR speaker:Niamh Smyth OR speaker:Chris Andrews OR speaker:Danny Healy-Rae OR speaker:Jim O'Callaghan OR speaker:Cormac Devlin OR speaker:Michael Collins OR speaker:Imelda Munster OR speaker:Pádraig Mac Lochlainn OR speaker:Alan Kelly OR speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh29 OR speaker:Seán Canney OR speaker:Hildegarde Naughton OR speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh30 OR speaker:Mick Barry OR speaker:Áine Brady06 OR speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh28 OR speaker:Patrick O'Donovan OR speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh09 OR speaker:Mark Ward OR speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh16 OR speaker:Heather Humphreys OR speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh27 OR speaker:Seán Ó Fearghaíl OR speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh20 OR speaker:Aengus Ó Snodaigh12 OR speaker:Áine Brady4 OR speaker:Jackie Cahill OR speaker:Jennifer Murnane O'Connor OR speaker:Neale Richmond OR speaker:Michael Creed OR speaker:Seán Crowe OR speaker:Ossian Smyth OR speaker:Maurice Quinlivan OR speaker:Robert Troy) in 'Committee meetings'

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: Dr. Kelly mentioned counselling in prisons and that there were six counsellors. Did he say there are now none?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: Is that because funding was withdrawn, it was not possible to recruit or the programme ended?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: It is pretty stark. I visited the prison in Limerick a few years ago. Eight people were crossing the yard when I was crossing to visit someone. Of those eight, seven should not have been in prison because the issue was just drugs. I grew up with most of them. It is insane.

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: I thank our witnesses for their opening statements. It was very interesting to listen to them. I am from Clondalkin and over the past few years, we have been lucky enough to have some very progressive community gardaí, particularly with regard to people in the throes of addiction. They see these people as people and not as a burden on society. Once that relationship changed, we could...

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: That daily interaction with people, when done humanely, trickles back into the community, families and the organisations the people may be engaged with. Community policing, especially at that level, really works.

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: Are conversations taking place with members of the force in relation to potential changes in drug policy? For example, if we move from decriminalising the person but not the drug, how would that affect gardaí on a daily basis? What are their thoughts on that?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Mark Ward: I am sorry to cut across Mr. Kelly. He referred to the organisational change the Garda has to make and there could be more organisational change if some of the recommendations are carried into legislation. Does the Garda get support on that? Does it get resources to implement that change or it is doing that out of existing resources?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: I thank the witnesses for the presentation. Mr. Kelly spoke about one of the projects in Limerick. There are two projects ongoing at present. The law engagement and assisted recovery, LEAR, project has been in place for a couple of years. Under LEAR, the Garda can refer people to Ana Liffey. It is working really well and I commend the gardaí and the staff of Ana Liffey who are...

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: We have a progressive, forward-thinking and common-sense approach. Chief Superintendent Derek Smart is excellent at his job and inspires confidence. While we are dealing with people with addiction, we need to look at organised crime gangs which, unfortunately, operate in my city. They have a stranglehold in parts of the city. Crack cocaine did not just appear in Limerick. As I have said...

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Maurice Quinlivan: My time is nearly up and I have to go to another meeting. The interventions the Garda has done in Limerick recently, in particular, in the Ballinacurra-Weston area, have probably prevented deaths by not having a gang war break out, probably between certain factions of the same group. The Garda has done that already in the St. Mary's Park area. That was fantastic work. There is still a...

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: I welcome the witnesses. I congratulate Mr. Kelly on his new appointment. We might stick with that matter for a moment. I often ask a question about data and not just data but its relevance. As somebody knocking on doors at the moment, I do not disagree that people feel we need another 1,000 officers or so. I imagine we also need ICT resources. It is not just about data, which is a...

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: Mr. Kelly is describing highly specialised work. I imagine for practical reasons that much of that is centralised. What is the experience of the average garda dealing with it on the street? How does that work? Do they feed into those systems?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: Then, there is the more national service. Do I have time for one more question, Chair?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: I am trying to get a sense of what that international piece looks like in a practical way. Mr. Kelly spoke about linking up with international counterparts. When I did some reading for today, many of the stories that came up about Irish drug gangs were in The New York Times or on BBC News. We have graduated to a new era. How does that work? How often do they meet? What bodies does the...

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: Is it that when something happens, the Garda contacts Interpol and Europol or do they meet quarterly?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: On the ground.

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: When EMPACT sets the goals for the year, how many times during that year does it meet as a group?

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: It is completely integrated.

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: Effectively, gang activity is the same whether there is decriminalisation or not.

Committee on Drugs Use: A Health-Led Approach: Discussion (Resumed) (17 Oct 2024)

Neasa Hourigan: It is interesting that the slight variations do not act as a barrier to prosecuting or dealing with gangs.