Twelve months on from an angry Dáil confrontation over his younger brother’s heroin addiction and homelessness, Sinn Féin TD Jonathan O’ Brien tells Political Reporter Fiachra Ó Cionnaith how addicts around the country — and their families — need ongoing support to cope with their illness

A Sinn Féin TD who became embroiled in a high-profile row in the Dáil after it emerged that his brother was a homeless heroin addict has revealed that his sibling is now clean.

The Government has its “head stuck in the sand” in relation to drugs and needs to appoint a dedicated junior minister to drive responses, including new laws on legal tranquillisers, Sinn Féin TD for Cork City, Jonathan O’Brien, has said.

Sinn Féin TD Jonathan O’Brien says he regrets revealing his brother’s heroin addiction in a Dáil exchange, but was infuriated by comments made by Tánaiste Joan Burton.