... Deputy Pádraig Rice:  I want to ask about drugs policy. On-street drug use is a significant issue in Cork city. Local residents feel unsafe and intimidated. Needles have been found at bus stops, at playgrounds and outside schools. Problem drug users have been pushed from one part of Cork city to another. They were in the city centre and now, as the Taoiseach will know, they have been in Turner's Cross and Ballyphehane in recent weeks. We are next. The Government's drug policy has failed with devastating consequences for individuals, families and communities. A UCC study shows that 35 people a year die from problem drug use in Cork city. These are preventable deaths. We need an enhanced community policing response but crucially we need a long-term solution. We need a health-led approach, greater addiction services, decriminalisation and a safe injection facility. We should not have to wait for the review of the service in Dublin. Last night, the drugs committee heard that 40 years of evidence shows that these are effective. They reduce on-street drug use, reduce the spread infectious disease, prevent overdoses and connect people to services. I have one simple question. Does the Taoiseach support a safe injection facility for Cork city and what will he do to make it a reality?

Micheál Martin, The Taoiseach: That is not the panacea for this issue, but there is an issue here. Of that there is no doubt. I have been in touch with the Garda on the specifics of the areas the Deputy has identified because there is a lot of concern and anxiety among residents. It is not because of Government failure on drug policy, by the way. There is individual responsibility here too. There are bad actors as well in terms of the drug pushing and so on. I am fully in favour of a health-led approach to addiction. That is what we have in essence. There have been different manifestations of that over the past number of decades but we essentially have a health-led approach and will continue to have that. We also need an enforcement and policing response to protect people in communities from unacceptable behaviour or any violence that may result from certain people behaving badly.