In May 2025, it was announced that the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Drugs Use had been re-established. On 22 October 2024, the first iteration of the Committee published the Joint Committee on Drugs Use Interim Report,1 but the dissolution of the Government in November 2024 saw an end to their work. A commitment was made in the Programme for Government 2025 to re-establish the Committee to continue its work.2

Committee brief

The Joint Committee on Drugs Use was set up by the Government to consider the 36 recommendations in the Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use and to make a reasoned response to each recommendation.3 As mentioned in its Orders of Reference published in April 2025, the re-established Committee will also need to consider the findings of the interim report of the previous Committee.4 In a video on the Houses of the Oireachtas website, the Committee’s Chair, Gary Gannon TD, described the Committee as being in ‘an interesting position whereby they need to respond to both reports. The Committee will be ̒going through the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly, comparing that against the recommendations of the previous Committee, seeing where it needs more work, more engagements and delivering a really comprehensive programme of works.’5 This will then inform the content of its public meetings that began in September 2025. The Committee is required to report to the Oireachtas within 9 months of its first public meeting.

Committee membership

The Committee includes members from across the spectrum of political parties (not just Government parties). The Chair of the Committee is Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon. The other members of the Committee reflect cross-party membership, including Independents, as well as members of the Senate (Seanad Éireann).

1    Joint Committee on Drugs Use (2024) Joint Committee on Drugs Use Interim Report. Dublin: Houses of the Oireachtas. Available from: https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/42080/

2    Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Independent TDs (2025) Draft Programme for Government 2025: Securing Ireland’s Future. Dublin. Available from: https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/42537/

3    Citizens’ Assembly (2024) Report of the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use. Volume 1. Dublin:
Citizens’ Assembly. Available from: https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/40393/

4    Committee on Standing Orders and Dáil Reform (2025) Report of the Committee on Standing Orders and Dáil Reform: Orders of Reference and Establishment of Committees. Dublin: Houses of the Oireachtas. Available from:
https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/43645/

5   Houses of the Oireachtas (2025) The Joint Committee on Drugs Use has been established. Available from:
https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/press-centre/press-releases/20250529-the-joint-committee-on-drugs-use-has-been-established/