Deputy Gino Kenny: Tomorrow, the Citizens' Assembly on Drugs Use will publish its final report. It will be an historic day in the context of this issue. The assembly has made 30 recommendations calling for reform of our current drug policy. It has stated that drug use and misuse is a public health issue, rather than a criminal one. Overall, the sentiment is that the status quo of criminalisation does not work. This policy of criminalisation has been the State's default position for the past six decades. That has stigmatised, marginalised and criminalised not only individuals, but also communities throughout the country. We now have a better understanding of addiction and the reasons people fall into addictions, however. It is a complex issue but we have a more holistic approach to why it happens. 

Factors such as poverty, disadvantage and deep trauma that goes on in people's lives mean people turn to drugs sometimes, alcohol sometimes. These are huge social determinants on this issue. Public opinion has shifted, particularly in the last number of years, and is changing course in relation to the position over the past six decades, as I stipulated. This has been reflected not only in the citizens' assembly but also at the justice committee, which had a very good report 14 months ago on a different course of action on drug use and funding communities. 

I believe there is a generational chance to change the course taken over the past six decades. Ireland has one of the highest rates of overdose and drug-related deaths in Europe. In the North of Ireland there is an explosion of drug-related deaths. Something needs to happen. Other countries have done it differently, with safe consumption rooms and so forth. That needs to be done here as quickly as possible. The chairperson of the citizens' assembly stated that there is no time to waste. If it saves one life, one person, it is worth changing course regarding criminalising people. Will the Government take the recommendations of the citizens' assembly not just on policy but also on legislative change, which is key? The Misuse of Drugs Act has been in place since the 1970s, criminalising people, sending people through the criminal justice system and the courts, and jailing people. It does not work. Show me where it does work. Other jurisdictions have showed that we can change course, save lives and take people out of the criminal justice system. 

Leo Varadkar, The Taoiseach: I thank the Deputy for his interest and knowledge on this matter. It goes without saying that the greatest drug of use and misuse in this State is alcohol and it is legal. It is associated with public order offences, child abuse and violence against women. It is associated with acute disease and chronic disease. It makes mental health worse. It is associated with suicide, public order offences and major road traffic accidents, yet we would never consider criminalising alcohol in Ireland because we know it would not work. People would not obey the law and alcohol would be driven into the hands of a criminal industry. People would be killed by impure alcohol, as was the case during prohibition periods in Ireland. That is something we all need to be honest about. 

In my view, drug use and misuse by individuals should be seen primarily as a public health issue and not a criminal justice matter. That is very different from drug dealing, for example, and the production of illegal medicines and drugs. I certainly think that blaming, shaming and criminalising people is not an effective policy and has largely been rejected by the public, particularly younger people. If it was the case that that approach, the war on drugs and "just say no" was a successful policy, it would have been successful 40 years ago. It has not worked. We all need to admit that. Certainly that is what the citizens' assembly admitted in its report. 

In terms of where we go from here, I am going to have a chance to meet with Paul Reid tomorrow. He is going to present the report to me. I am keen to hear his reflections, not just what is written down in the report. He is going to meet with the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, as well, who has responsibility for this area. We will publish the report formally. It is important that we have an opportunity for the Oireachtas to consider it. That is the usual process for a citizens' assembly. We will set out the details as to how that can be done, most likely tomorrow after the meeting with Paul Reid.

Deputy Gino Kenny: One of the main elements of the report was not paying lip service to our approach but changing the legislation. The Taoiseach said criminalising people for possession of small amounts of drugs, no matter what the drugs are, is simply a waste of resources for the State. Whether people use drugs or not is irrelevant. The proliferation of drugs and availability of drugs is widespread. It is impossible. People in the law enforcement area have said that law enforcement alone simply cannot curtail the availability of drugs or the reasons people take drugs. A lot of people take drugs and never have a problem but there are people who will fall into addiction. Next week, in a test for the Government, People Before Profit is bringing forward a very simple Bill providing for cases where somebody has simple possession of cannabis on their person. We are asking you to have a look at the Bill, which is very short, to endorse it and to let it go to Committee Stage. This is the test. The days of lip service are over and the days of saving lives are here. 

Leo Varadkar, The Taoiseach: I used to be a sceptic of citizens' assemblies, but over the past five or ten years I have become a fan of them. They can be really effective. We do not always accept the recommendations, nor do we have to, but we always consider them. When you put in front of 100 citizens all of the evidence, all the experts and all the advice, sometimes they come up with very good recommendations. As I say, we do not always accept them although we often do. We are the Legislature. We are the ones who actually make the decisions in the end and that should never change. We will have to give careful consideration to any kind of legal change. That is our job. That is going to take a bit of work and a bit of advice. I have asked the Garda about this on a number of occasions and they say to me that they rarely prosecute people for possession. Where they do prosecute people for possession, it is because they suspect they have been doing more than possession - that they have been dealing, promoting or selling - but that is the charge they can get them on. There are complexities like that that we need to figure out. Tomorrow we will set out how we best think this report can be taken forward.