88. Deputy Marie Sherlock asked the Minister for Health to commit to setting out a written detailed response and implementation plan to each of the 161 recommendations of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Drugs Use policy reform. [52314/26]

Sentiment score: 0.10

As the Minister of State knows, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Drugs Use published a report two weeks ago. It is a detailed report, with 161 detailed recommendations set out over 134 pages. I have to convey to the Minister of State the deep dismay and disappointment caused by her comments in response to the report some 24 hours after its publication. Will the Department of Health issue a detailed response to each of the recommendations?

Sentiment score: -0.18

I thank the Minister of State. That is certainly very welcome. I say genuinely to the Minister of State and the senior Minister in the Department that there is a real opportunity to show leadership and to prove their credentials by getting things done with regard to this particular issue. Our committee heard hundreds of hours of evidence from 82 witnesses since April last year. It was an incredibly extensive look at all the issues. The reality is that the Minister of State outright rejected our recommendation of decriminalisation. There was an apparent misrepresentation of what the citizens' assembly actually said and she conflated decriminalisation with legalisation.

Sentiment score: 0.07

That to me is wrong. The reality is the issues are way too serious for that. There were 343 drug-induced deaths in our country in 2022. That is the latest available data. Over 80% of those in our prisons have addiction. Look at our communities. We need to change how we do things on drugs. To be honest, the Minister of State rejecting one of the recommendations less than 24 hours after publication is frankly not good enough. It is a knee-jerk response and it is anti-evidence.

Sentiment score: -0.09

A health referral and health diversion scheme was promised back in 2017, so we are almost ten years waiting for that. The reality is the Minister of State is fundamentally misunderstanding why we have recommended decriminalisation. It is not an end in itself. Depenalisation is to ensure that we breakdown the stigma and shame of addiction in this country. It is to ensure that people can access services and that we end the war on drugs that has not worked. The Minister of State can walk around her community or my community – it has not worked. If we are serious about a comprehensive health-led approach, and the citizens’ assembly was very clear on this, it means dissuasion, diversion and decriminalisation. It cannot be cherry-picking one or two out of the three. It is a fundamental disappointment that the Minister of State is just looking at some of the recommendations and not looking at them in the round. It is a whole-of-government approach. My appeal to both the Minister of State and the Minister is that they bring this to the Cabinet and the rest of the Ministers. The Taoiseach’s response that we have had a health scheme in place for the past number of years and that it is working does not cut the mustard. It is not working.

Sentiment score: 0.02