Here we go again. The Government has decided to kick the can down the road on a common-sense Bill. It knows there is no way that anybody would oppose this Bill so instead it decided to delay it by nine months. Government talks about all of us working together. Yet here we have a positive piece of work and instead of supporting it going to Committee Stage and teasing out any of the issues he has, the Minister has decided to delay it. In my constituency, the use of nitrous oxide by teenagers has been an ongoing problem since way before the pandemic. Football and GAA teams have to show up early to clear their pitches of canisters, in some cases boxes of them, before a match can kick off. It is the same with our playgrounds. Parents are going to playgrounds to clean them up. The reason the use of this drug has increased so much is it is cheap, and users and sellers face little risk under the law. Anybody can go online and order a crate of it, then resell these canisters individually and make a tidy profit. This Bill cuts out all that. Anybody wanting to sell it wholesale will need a licence. Anybody selling it via retail will need to be on a register of approved sellers. The other rules in the Bill are similar to those for alcohol. The person purchasing and the person selling it will have to be over 18, and it allows gardaí to seize canisters from anybody they suspect is under the age of 18. It is simple. We all know that nitrous oxide misuse is not low risk when it comes to a person's health. We see people who use it suffering serious nerve damage, neurological conditions, seizures and much more. This Bill provides a common-sense way forward. Instead of criminalising these young people who are using it, the Bill will regulate the sale and make it much more difficult for it be misused. There is no legitimate reason for a teenager to be using this. There is none, so please let us get working on this Bill.

Sentiment score: -0.03