Undercover gardaí checking pubs for drug use
Fianna Fáil TD Brendan Smith. Picture: Maurice O'Mahony
Justice Minister Simon Harris has said there will be increased Garda operations in nightclubs and pubs to crack down on people using and dealing drugs.
Gardaí are already carrying out undercover checks in licensed premises, it is understood.
It comes as Mr Harris said there is a direct link between “snorting a line or taking a pill” at the weekend and murder, assault, and criminality the following week.
Mr Harris said it was time to start calling out the social use of drugs, where people go out for a pint and “accompany” their drink with drugs.
Ireland needs to “get real” about use of narcotics, and "social" users are helping to fund criminal gangs, he told the Dáil.
He was responding to Fianna Fáil Cavan-Monaghan TD Brendan Smith, who asked if additional measures would be implemented both locally and nationally to deal with “what is an epidemic at the present time”.
Mr Smith said criminals are "peddling death and destruction" in every community throughout the country and he wanted the matter addressed with “the utmost urgency”.
Mr Harris said he has recently met with senior gardaí in relation to the use of drugs and he said they are taking it “extremely seriously”.
"There is very clear law that applies to licensed premises and social venues in relation to these matters," he said.
“They [gardaí] made it clear that all night time venues and social premises need to be very aware of the law and their responsibilities and that there are and will continue to be garda operations to ensure that the law is upheld right across this country.
Mr Harris said people who use drugs are helping to line the pockets of criminals who are inflicting misery and pain in communities across the country.
He said he was “very concerned” about the growing social acceptance of drug-taking in Ireland and said he was not talking about those struggling with drug addiction who instead needed a “health-led approach”.
“We will always, and must, support people overcoming addiction," he said.
“As a former minister for health, I know the importance of a health-led approach to supporting those going through addiction and their families.
Mr Harris said the Garda Commissioner has tasked an inspector in every Garda division to respond to the issue of drug-related intimidation.
He said the Government is committed to taking a number of direct actions to support An Garda Síochána in tackling drugs, including increasing the maximum sentence for conspiracy to murder from 10 years to life in prison to tackle those who direct gangland and drug-related crime, as well as introducing new legislation, just published, which would criminalise the grooming of children into a life of crime.
He said the aim is to tackle the attempts by criminal gangs to glamourise gangland activity and to expose it for what it is.
The Department of Justice is also to further roll out The Greendown Project, a pilot programme that aims to break the link between gangs and the children they try to recruit.
Mr Harris also told the Dáil that he is preparing an amendment to the Children's Act 2001, which covers children convicted of serious crimes.
The amendment will ensure that "sufficient alternatives" to current sentencing provisions are provided, he said.
It will "maximise the alternative sentencing options available" and "remove existing barriers to their use", he said, particularly in relation to children who will turn 18 during the duration of their sentence.
Mr Harris said that the drafting of Heads of a Bill to provide for the amendment is under way.
On Tuesday, Cabinet approved a new Citizens' Assembly on drugs use. The Government said the assembly will be asked to consider the legislative, policy, and operational changes the State could make to significantly reduce the harmful impacts of illegal drugs.
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