52. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he will provide the number of arrests, charges and convictions under section 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act in each of the past five years, by drug type. [20845/26]

Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration: The Government’s strategic approach in relation to the misuse of drugs is set out in Ireland’s National Drug Strategy, ‘Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery’, a health-led response to drug and alcohol use in Ireland 2017-2025. The strategy is led by my colleagues in the Department Health, Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and Minister of State Jennifer Murnane O’Connor.

It is the Government’s ambition that the next national drugs strategy will support a society where the use of drugs is decreased, drug-related harms are reduced, and recovery from drug dependency is supported. The draft National Drugs Strategy 2026-2029 was published last month by Minister of State Jennifer Murnane O’Connor, and I understand that a public consultation on the draft Strategy is currently underway.

The Strategy recognises the need for a balanced health-led approach to reducing demand, while also reducing access to illegal drugs, and is aimed at reducing the number of people criminalised for the possession of drugs for personal use. While this Strategy supports vulnerable people who use drugs, it is also matched with strengthened enforcement measures across Government to tackle the supply of illegal drugs.

This represents a whole-of-Government response to reducing demand and associated harms, while balancing this with limiting access to illegal drugs to the greatest extent possible.

The Garda Authorities have provided me with the below table which has the annual count of charges created which cite an offence of ‘Possession of Drugs, Contrary to section 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act’.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that as custody logs do not reference a specific offence such as ‘Possession of Drugs Contrary to Section 3 Misuse of Drugs Act’ the number of arrests pursuant to section 3 of the Misuse of Drugs Act cannot be provided.

A breakdown of drug seizure statistics, by drug type, are published in the Garda Síochána's Annual Report which can be found at the following link: [An Garda Síochána Annual Reports - Garda]

Management of the courts, along with related operational matters and logistical functions, are the responsibility of the judiciary and Courts Service, which are independent in exercising their functions under the Courts Service Act 1998 and the Constitution. My Department does not record data relating to convictions, as this is a function of the courts.

The Courts Service has a dedicated email address for the provision of information to members of the Houses of the Oireachtas: oireachtasenquiries@courts.ie