Mary Fitzpatrick

We need a public health, you know, response.

We need a comprehensive health-led response.

We need to recognise that, you know, drugs use and abuse and misuse in Ireland has really evolved over the last, what, 20, 30 years.

You know, historically it was...

you know, primarily opioid-based in marginalised communities.

Well, now it's polysubstance use, you know, it's population-wide polysubstance use in every community.

So, you know, we need to invest very, very heavily in prevention, in supporting young people

in understanding what their challenges are and supporting them to make better decisions, to have more informed decisions, to have more confidence, have more resilience and better coping mechanisms.

So that, you know, as is described, like drug use is a symptom.

It's a symptom of other pain.

So we need to support and prevent and invest in that.

And there is some great work already being done by youth services, by teachers, by schools, by parents, by communities, the GAA have taken, you know, strong initiatives.

But I suppose what we as a committee concluded is that while yes, there are some really strong and positive and impactful initiatives involved,

There isn't a universal approach across the country.

There isn't a universal approach across society.

And to achieve that, we need to achieve a public health response.

Well, we're delivering in a patchy, inconsistent way, I completely agree.

And I agree with what has been said.

If we were to decriminalise without putting in place

the prevention measures without putting in place a comprehensive health-led approach, it would be disastrous.